Column: After three years of exports China is now short of lead
The global lead market has bifurcated since the start of June, with Shanghai prices significantly outperforming that of the LME.
Two men have been arrested at the main Sri Lankan airport after security checks indicated they were hiding the precious metal inside their bodies in order to avoid customs duties.
“Each man had 10 gold biscuits weighing 100 grams inside his rectum,” Leslie Gamini, a spokesperson for Sri Lanka Customs, told the BBC.
He added adding the gold, valued at nearly $100,000, was confiscated and that the smugglers were easily spotted. “They appeared to be in pain and could not walk properly,” Gamini said.
The bust is the biggest Sri Lankan customs officials have ever found inside a human body.
In a separate case in the same country, seven other people were arrested at the Colombo airport, reports UPI, as they tried sneaking 25 bars of gold they had swallowed into India.
India, the world’s biggest gold consumer, increased duties on bullion imports last month for the third time this year, as it battled to narrow a record trade gap and stabilize the rupee.
