CITIC Resources Says Qingdao Port Probe May Impact Business

CITIC Resources Holdings Ltd said on Tuesday an investigation into the status of certain aluminium and copper products stored at China's Qingdao port may hit the group, signalling a possible broader impact on businesses exposed to the port.

News of an investigation into a metal financing fraud at the port, where a third-party company is suspected of using single cargoes of metal multiple times to obtain financing, has rattled banks and trading houses and unsettled markets.

"At present, the status of the investigation is unknown to the group," chairman Kwok Peter Viem said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

"Until the status of the investigation is clarified, the company is not able to accurately assess its impact on the group's alumina and copper stored at Qingdao port or on the group itself," Kwok added.

CITIC Resources' commodities import and export business owns some alumina and copper stored in bonded warehouses at Qingdao port, the world's seventh largest.

The company said it was not in a position to provide any other information on the effect of the investigation on its alumina and copper business.

It has taken steps to protect its interests and applied to the Qingdao courts and obtained sequestration orders in respect of the group's alumina and copper. It did not elaborate.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Ed Davies)