China's gold output is forecast to rise to 460 mt (16.2 million oz) in 2014, up 7.4% from the 428.2 mt produced in 2013, an analyst from state-owned nonferrous metals information provider Beijing Antaike said Friday.
"Expected higher output this year is mainly supported by capacity expansion by some Chinese gold miners," the analyst said, without providing details.
"Actual gold output in China may change depending on mining and output conditions in the second half of the year," he added.
China consumed 322.99 mt of gold over January-March, up a marginal 0.76% year on year, latest China Gold Association data showed. The country consumed 1,176.4 mt of gold in full year 2013, up a sharp 41.4% year on year.
The Antaike analyst did not provide a consumption forecast for 2014, but noted: "Gold consumption traditionally picks up closer to the year end."
A CGA official did not comment when contacted by Platts this week.
China's Ministry of Land and Resources in early July said China's Yantai city in northeastern Shandong province had discovered 648 mt of gold reserves over 2011-2013.
The Laizhou-Zhaoyuan mining area in Shandong province is estimated to have 3,432 mt of gold reserves, making it the world's third-largest gold mining area, the ministry said.
China is the world's largest gold producer, with Shandong its biggest gold-producing province. Around 83% of China's total gold reserves are concentrated in Shandong, Henan, Jiangxi, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Hunan, Gansu, Fujian, Hubei and Xinjiang.
