Shanghai Gold Exchange volume up 7.6% on year to 5,064.6 tonnes
In its September market report, China's central bank puts Shanghai Futures Exchange gold volume down 12.8% on the year. It does not say whether the exchange tonnage counts one side of each trade or both.
By Carat Capital
What changed
Spot trade rose. The Shanghai Gold Exchange traded 5,064.6 tonnes of gold in September, 7.6% more than a year earlier, the PBoC says. Gold volume on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 12.8%.
What it means
- If you price off Shanghai: Check counter quotes against Au(T+D)'s September close of 906.6 yuan a gram.
- If you track Chinese demand: Read the spot rise and the futures fall together. The bank gives no reason for either.
- What this is not: A demand figure. Traded volume is not metal bought by jewellers or withdrawn from the vaults.
Key figures
| SGE gold tradedSeptember 2026, basis undefined | 5,064.6t |
|---|---|
| SGE, on yearagainst September 2025 | +7.6% |
| SHFE, on yearabout 15,000 tonnes traded | −12.8% |
| Au(T+D), yuan/gSeptember close, −5.7% on month | 906.6 |
Source: People's Bank of China, September 2026 financial market report, section 5, published 26 October 2026 18:00 Beijing time.
The price fell 5.7%.
Lower close, more trade. The SGE's Au(T+D) contract closed September at 906.6 yuan a gram, 5.7% below its end-August close. Spot volume still rose on the year.
Futures traded less. Gold volume on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell to about 15,000 tonnes, the bank's rounded figure. The PBoC gives no reason for either move.
| Measure | September 2026 | Change | Against |
|---|---|---|---|
| SGE gold traded | 5,064.6 tonnes | +7.6% | September 2025 |
| SHFE gold traded | about 15,000 tonnes | −12.8% | September 2025 |
| SGE Au(T+D), month-end close | 906.6 yuan a gram | −5.7% | end-August 2026 |
All figures are the PBoC's. The bank rounds SHFE volume to 1.5 万 (15,000) tonnes and does not say whether either volume counts one side of each trade or both. No figure here is Carat Capital's arithmetic.
The basis is not stated.
One side or two. The report gives SGE volume as trades done. It does not say whether each trade is counted once or for both buyer and seller.
The change stands. The 7.6% rise compares the bank's figure with its own figure a year earlier. Set against totals from other publishers, the tonnage may not compare.
Counters price off the exchange.
A premium on top. Chinese jewellery counters quote above the exchange price. On 14 August Carat Capital measured Chow Tai Fook's counter at 39.5% over the SGE's Au99.99 close.
What to watch
- Late November 2026The PBoC's October market report, if its monthly timing holds. The test: SGE volume above its year-earlier level again.
- Each morningAu(T+D) against its 906.6-yuan September close.
The story so far
Go deeper
What would change this call
A PBoC or SGE statement that the volume counts both sides would halve the metal behind 5,064.6 tonnes. The year-on-year rise would stand, measured on the same basis.
What the figure counts
成交 means trades done. The PBoC's monthly financial market report gives it for the SGE and the Shanghai Futures Exchange, with the month-end close of Au(T+D), the SGE's spot gold contract with deferred settlement.
Method
People's Bank of China, '2026年9月金融市场运行情况', section 五、黄金市场运行情况, dated '文章来源： 2026-10-26 18:00:06' on the page. Fetched by the Editor on 27 October 2026, door.py 200, 36,257 bytes, the same byte count as the Bureau's 04:3x capture. Exact strings in the tag-stripped text (2,528 characters): '5064.6' 1 hit, '906.6' 1, '7.6%' 1, '12.8%' 1, '5.7%' 1, '1.5万吨' 1. The gold paragraph, quoted: '2026年9月末，上海黄金交易所Au（T+D）合约收于每克906.6元，环比下降5.7%。2026年9月，上海黄金交易所黄金成交5064.6吨，同比增加7.6%；上海期货交易所黄金成交1.5万吨，同比下降12.8%。' Translations are Carat Capital's. The SHFE figure is printed as about 15,000 tonnes because the bank gives 1.5 万 tonnes. No half-year or annual SGE total is set beside the September figure, because the report does not state its basis. Source verbs: the bank says 增加 (rose) and 下降 (fell); the page says rose and fell. ARCHIVE, by entity and period: 'Shanghai Gold Exchange' 11 rows in articles.json, each read at the matching sentence: counter and contract prices (9, 14, 17, 23, 25 August), refiner and member admissions (22 August, 5 September), Pudong's exit (9 September), ICBC margin (20 September), Sanya transit (20 September), imports (23 September). Ours: no SGE monthly volume on file | new: SGE volume for September 2026: NEW.