Which publicly traded companies operate COMEX‑approved silver refineries?
Executive summary
A definitive public list tying specific publicly traded companies to COMEX‑approved silver refineries cannot be produced from the provided reporting alone; the CME/COMEX maintains an eligible “brand” and service‑provider spreadsheet that expanded in 2023 to include many LBMA refiners, but the sources here do not enumerate which of those brands are owned or operated by listed corporations [1]. Reporting does, however, name a few refiners and outlines structural changes — useful starting points for verification — and shows that any accurate answer requires cross‑checking the CME service‑provider file against corporate disclosures [2] [1].
1. Why the question is trickier than it looks
COMEX does not publish a simple “public company = approved refinery” roster in the cited material; instead, the exchange uses a brands/service‑provider list to define deliverable silver bars and has recently merged many LBMA brands into its eligibility tables, a step that expanded the list of acceptable refiners but did not by itself map ownership or corporate structure [1].
2. What the sources actually confirm about approved refiners
Analysis of the reporting shows that COMEX’s eligible silver bar brands are maintained as part of a CME Group spreadsheet or “service providers” table and that, in 2023, the CME added dozens of LBMA‑approved refiners to COMEX brand lists — a change explained and catalogued by industry researchers [1]. The sources also identify specific refiners referenced in market coverage: for instance, Metalor is cited as a Swiss refiner operating in 17 countries and publicly discussed in the context of market dislocations [2], and Chengtong PM is described as an integrated supplier/agent/service provider active across COMEX and other markets [2].
3. Which publicly traded companies are named in these reports — and what that implies
The provided pieces mention refinery names (e.g., Metalor, Chengtong PM) but do not confirm their public‑company status or whether the exact refinery brand on the COMEX list is owned by a publicly traded parent [2]. The CME/LBMA list expansion means many refiners now eligible could be subsidiaries of listed firms, private companies, or state‑owned entities; the documentation cited does not perform that corporate ownership mapping [1].
4. How to build a verifiable list (method recommended by the evidence)
The most reliable approach implied by the sources is twofold: download the CME Group “service providers” XLS that lists eligible Silver (SI) brands and then cross‑reference each brand with corporate registries and company filings to see which are owned by public companies — a step the reporting indicates is necessary because COMEX’s brand list is a product/brand-level dataset, not a corporate ownership table [1]. Industry commentary in the sources underscores that without that cross‑checking one risks conflating brand names, LBMA approvals, and parent‑company status [1] [2].
5. Examples and caveats from the sources
Market commentary cites Metalor’s temporary operational decisions during the 2025 market stress and describes Chengtong PM’s vertically integrated role in buying and moving silver across markets [2], demonstrating that well‑known refiners figure prominently in the deliverable supply chain; however, the provided texts stop short of declaring these names are publicly traded and directly operating COMEX‑approved refinery brands — again underscoring the documentation gap [2] [1].
6. Bottom line and how to proceed with confidence
Based on the available reporting, it is accurate to say COMEX maintains an approved silver brand list (now broadened by inclusion of LBMA brands) and that some globally prominent refiners are part of the market conversation, but the specific question — which publicly traded companies operate COMEX‑approved silver refineries — cannot be fully answered using only these sources; rather, one must extract the CME/COMEX brand list and perform company‑level ownership checks against public filings and registries to produce a verified roster [1] [2].