China Gold Imports From Hong Kong Climb to Record on Wealth

Gold imports into mainland China from Hong Kong surged 94 percent to an all-time high last year as rising incomes in the world’s second-largest economy underpinned increased demand and helped the metal to post a 12th annual gain.

Mainland China imported 834,502 kilograms (834.5 metric tons), including scrap and coins, compared with about 431,215 kilograms in 2011, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department. Imports in December rose to a monthly record of 114,405 kilograms, according to data from the department yesterday.

China was expected to displace India as the world’s biggest gold consumer last year, according to a forecast in November from the producer-funded World Gold Council. Rising consumption in the country may help to offset concern that the metal’s bull run may be coming to an end as the global economy recovers. Spot gold is little changed so far this year, while the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of raw materials has risen 4.4 percent. Read more >>

Tiny gold bars latest rage for jittery investors

Private investors in Switzerland, Austria and Germany are lining up to buy gold bars the size of a credit card that can easily be broken into one gram pieces and used as payment in an emergency.
Now Swiss refinery Valcambi, a unit of U.S. mining giant Newmont, wants to bring its "CombiBar" to market in the United States and build up its sales presence India - the world's largest consumer of gold where the precious metal has long served as a parallel currency.

Investors worried that inflation and financial market turmoil will wipe out the value of their cash have poured money into gold over the past decade. Prices have gained almost 500 percent since 2001 compared to a 12 percent increase in MSCI's world equity index.

Sales of gold bars and coins were worth almost $77 billion in 2011, up from just $3.5 billion in 2002, according to data from the World Gold Council.

"The rich are buying standard bars or have deposits of phsyical gold. People that have less money are buying up to 100 grams," said Michael Mesaric, CEO of Valcambi "But for many people a pure investment product is no longer enough. They want to be able to do something with the precious metal."

Mesaric said the advantage of the "CombiBar" - which has been dubbed a "chocolate bar" because pieces can be easily broken off by hand into one gram squares - is that it can be easily transported and costs less than buying 50 one gram bars. Read more >>

Gold Buying in China Jumps as Inflation Flares

Image via WikipediaGold purchases in China, the world’s largest producer, climbed to 200 metric tons in the first two months of 2011 as faster inflation boosted consumer demand, according to UBS AG, which said the price may gain to $1,500.

“China is the big buyer,” Peter Hickson, global commodities strategist at Switzerland’s largest bank, said by phone yesterday, without giving a comparable figure for 2010. The estimate for the two-month period compares with full-year consumer demand from China of 579.5 tons for last year, according to the World Gold Council, a producer-funded group.

Bullion, which rallied 30 percent last year, surged to a record yesterday as uprisings in the Middle East, quickening inflation and currency debasement boosted global demand. China’s consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in January from a year earlier, exceeding policy makers’ 4 percent ceiling for a fourth month. Read more...

Record Gold Imports by India

Gold imports by India, the biggest bullion consumer, likely reached a record last year driven by investment demand, according to the World Gold Council.

Purchases were about 800 metric tons, compared with 557 tons in 2009, Ajay Mitra, managing director for India and the Middle East at the producer-funded group, said today in a phone interview from Dubai.

Imports at that level “would be the highest for India in its history,” he said. The group hasn’t released final data for last year. Purchases in 2010 may exceed 750 tons, Mitra said Nov. 17. The Bombay Bullion Association said Jan. 3 imports probably totaled 700 tons in 2010. More...

GLD now holds more than $50bn in physical gold

Image via CrunchBase

Lawrence Williams
LONDON -

State Street Global Advisors, and World Gold Trust Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the World Gold Council (WGC), have announced that assets in the world' largest gold ETF, the SPDRGold Trust (NYSE Arca: GLD) have surpassed US $50 billion as nervous investors have continued to put their trust in gold as they see the global economic situation possibly deteriorating further. Fears of a double dip recession, which now seems more and more likely, have been driving some really big money into the gold ETF.

"With assets having increased by approximately 32 percent year-to-date (as of Friday, June 25, 2010), SPDR Gold Shares has radically transformed the way in which a wide range of investors access the gold market," said James Ross, senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors. "GLD is increasingly being used as part of a long-term diversification investment strategy within investors' portfolios in a variety of market cycles currently playing out worldwide."

Jason Toussaint, managing director, Investments, World Gold Trust Services, LLC commented: "Strategic asset allocation will continue to play a central role in investors' portfolio performance moving forward, and portfolios that contain even a small allocation in gold have the potential to better cope with varying market scenarios. This milestone for GLD underscores that investors have embraced gold as a viable core holding over the long-term." More...

Russia Buys 22 Tons Of Gold In May

Image via Wikipedia

ZeroHedge

Ten days ago we reported the most recent data on gold reserve holdings as presented by the World Gold Council, where we pointed out that Russia had purchased 27.6 tons of gold in the most recent reporting period, bringing its total to 668.6 tons.

It appears Russia is only getting started. According to the latest IMF data, in the period between April and May, Russia added another 22.5 tons, bringing its May total to a fresh record of 703.1 tons. As BusinessWeek reports, Russia "has added gold every month since at least February." At the same time, The International Monetary Fund’s gold holdings fell by 15.25 metric tons (490,286 ounces).

"Reserves of gold at the IMF were 2,951.58 tons at the end of May compared with 2,966.83 tons at the end of April, data on the IMF’s website show." Good thing the world's bailout cop is doing all it can to keep gold prices low by transacting in the open market instead of in prenegotiated transaction. Again, per BusinessWeek, this “is an indication that they will continue to sell the remaining 137.5 tons on-market as opposed to via off-market transactions with other central banks,” said Daniel Major, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London.

“Indeed the decline in gold sales from European central banks and purchases from India, Russia and China in recent years demonstrates gold’s growing popularity with central banks.” Well, all Central Banks except those that are printer happy of course, and are now loaded to the gills with toxic debt that will continue to impair their currencies until the bitter Keynesian end.

Central banks have been adding to reserves and gold-backed exchange-traded fund assets have advanced to a record as investors sought an alternative to currencies and a protection of wealth from Europe’s debt crisis. Gold traded at $1,243.45 an ounce at 4:16 p.m. in London and reached a record $1,265.30 on June 21.

While the paradoxical IMF's agenda is all too clear (sell gold, get cash, but help the CB's by keeping price low), that of Russia is even clearer- never mind all time record gold prices. Buy. In that, Putin's country is a spitting image of the GLD, which has added almost a hundred tons of gold in recent weeks, price considerations be damned.

Gold Krugerrands Run Out

Image via Wikipedia

Patrick A. Heller
For some time, I have been warning that apparently plentiful supplies of gold and silver bullion-priced coins and ingots could quickly evaporate. Last Thursday we saw the first signs of a looming shortage of physical metals when just about all U.S. bullion wholesalers were unable to accept orders for the South Africa Krugerrand. One primary distributor said they expected coins in a few weeks, which I think means that they are waiting for a shipment of freshly minted coins from the South Africa Mint. My own company had to discontinue accepting new orders until we could lock in a supply.

Tens of millions of Krugerrands have been struck since they were introduced in 1967. They are not rare. If demand for physical gold is so strong (and the World Gold Council last week reported that global third quarter demand was 15 percent higher than the second quarter) that they are no longer available, we could quickly see a domino effect where other gold and silver bullion-priced products also become sold out.

We may see some temporary price dips this week as the gold and silver options expire. However, I fear that there is little time to lock in physical precious metals at reasonable premiums for quick delivery.