Asian demand puts floor on gold price

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I was looking at a few 4-ducat restrikes @ 3% above spot.
 

China’s gold imports surge to record high as appetite increases, middle class seek wealth security​

  • China imported a record high 1,447 tonnes of gold for non-monetary use last year, with the value increasing ninefold from three years ago to US$90 billion
  • China’s middle class are seen to be attempting to preserve their dwindling fortunes caused by the property market crisis and slumping stock market

China’s appetite for gold rose to record high levels last year, as investors sought to secure their assets and limit uncertainties caused by a weak yuan, an ongoing property slump and fears over a stock market rout.

Imports of gold for non-monetary use – products including gold jewellery – rose to 1,447 tonnes last year, breaking the previous record of 1,427 tonnes in 2018, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The weight marked a sevenfold increase from 2020, while the US$90 billion value represented an almost ninefold increase from three years ago.

Domestic sales in China also hit 1,090 tonnes of gold last year, according to the China Gold Association, with gold jewellery consumption increasing by 7.97 per cent year on year and purchases of gold bars and coins increasing by 15.7 per cent.

With limited access to overseas assets, China’s middle class are seen to be attempting to preserve their fortunes, which have dwindled amid the slumping property market.

“Facing the property and stock market slump, global geopolitical instability, and the fall of the Chinese yuan’s exchange rate, gold purchasing is currently the best way for Chinese residents to preserve their wealth,” said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform.


2 points
a) gold bars and coins are considered non-monetary...
b) these statistics don't consider imports of gold for monetary use
 
Brother-in-law was about to pull the trigger on $10k worth of silver from one of those silver houses. They wanted nearly $40 an ounce. Talked him into going with five Maple Leaves from Apmex instead.
 
I was looking at a few 4-ducat restrikes @ 3% above spot.
those are intresting coins.....very large diameter but seem very thin ....when i handle one i feel like it would be easy to bend ....i am a fan of 1 ducats and in the past they provided extra ordinary value in gold coins, ducat pic for fun LOL
 

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Brother-in-law was about to pull the trigger on $10k worth of silver from one of those silver houses. They wanted nearly $40 an ounce. Talked him into going with five Maple Leaves from Apmex instead.
He'll thank you later!
 
He'll thank you later!

He was talking to someone at Rosiland Capital. He was ready to send them the money. Personally, I was willing to let him do it because he's an idiot liberal democrat, but I had my sister (who is not) to think of.
 

Chinese Wholesale Gold Demand Sets January Record​

Chinese gold demand kicked off 2024 with a bang.
Wholesale gold demand set a record in January. Meanwhile, assets under management by Chinese gold ETFs reached an all-time high.
China ranks as the world’s top gold consumer, and Chinese demand has a significant impact on the global gold market.

Gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) hit 271 tons in January, the highest level on record. It was a 95 percent increase compared to a tepid 2023 and a 65 percent increase month-on-month.
Withdraws from the SGE represent wholesale gold demand in China.


 

China's Jan gold imports via HK gallop to 6-year highs on festive spirit​

China's monthly net gold imports via Hong Kong surged 51 per cent in January to their highest since mid-2018, official data showed on Tuesday, as customers amassed the precious metal in preparation for the Lunar New Year festival.

The Hong Kong data may not provide a complete picture of Chinese purchases, as gold is also imported via Shanghai and Beijing.
The People's Bank of China controls the amount of gold entering the country via quotas to commercial banks.


I admit I'm a little confused...
First, one thing are imports and another one are withdrawals (e.g. from Shanghai. S. previous post). Record imports doesn't mean record withdrawals... or does it?
Second, record imports via HK doesn't mean record imports into China, as "gold is also imported via Shanghai and Beijing". Right?
 
If all the gold in Ft. Knox is there then it's at most a 3 year supply. If othwrs wise up about gold then it's about one year's supply.
 
If all the gold in Ft. Knox is there then it's at most a 3 year supply. If othwrs wise up about gold then it's about one year's supply.

If the gold in Fr. Knox is not for sale it's 0 years supply
 


I think Chinese people are aware that Chinese economy (and Yuan) have significant downside risks. They want gold.
 

 
The real estate market in China is imploding and the yuan is fixed to the $USD, but not to gold. Many Chinese citizens have created a mania believing the price of gold will continue to *increase while other assets implode.
 
Last edited:
The real estate market in China is imploding and the yuan is fixed to the $USD, but not to gold. Many Chinese citizens have created a mania believing the price of gold will continue to drop while other assets implode.
That ended in 2005, but it is pegged against a basket of currencies.
 

More:

 
Shenzhen's Shuibei, the biggest gold & jewellery market in the world


15kg silver ingots, 3kg gold bars being emotionlessly thrown around : )
 
Guaranteed 100% genuine same planchett sovereigns and 2rands.
 
Probably filled with tungsten for shipment to the west…
Nope, the Shuibei gold market is not an Exchange, it's a physical market. They don't send out, buyers have to go there, put it in the bag and bring it home. Those bars are real.
Besides, AFAIK there is no export of gold & silver out of China. It's verboten.


Peru's silver production is going straight to China


Translation
China's Zhejiang Yueqing City has the country's largest electroplating industrial park, which consumes more than 2,000 tons of silver every year! Data comes from the Shanghai Futures Exchange's public news. The main purpose of Chinese silver importers is to ensure the huge industrial silver, which now requires at least 9,000 tons per year! It is still increasing rapidly. Therefore, China went directly to Peru to buy all the silver ore and shipped it directly to China through the Port of Qiancai. Xi Jinping personally led a 400-person business delegation to Peru.
 

 

More:
 
No cap gains tax in USA should also floor prices. You would need to have brain damage at this point not to stack PMs.
 
Banks in China started selling gold directly to the public about a month ago:


Now they appear to be sold out (from Chinese New Year holiday demand?):

 
Chinese should add silver and platinum while it's still relatively cheap. It would benefit their citizens as a means of saving other than low interest bank accounts or their dying real estate market.
 
I remember seeing them on sale for $39k not that long ago.
 
I was stationed in the USAF in Turkey back in the '70s and got an introduction to the importance of gold in such society's. Generally a family's wealth is tied directly to the physical gold they have accumulated on a generational level. They even marry for it and its a big reason theres so much cousin marriage in such society's, the MidEast and Pakistan most of all but also India.

Their paper currency "Lira" was considered little more then arse wipe. We had a 45yo barracks house boy who pressed our uniforms, shined our shoes, did odd jobs around the barracks like doing our laundry and he was considered very well off because we paid him in $USD ; That, and we traded blue jeans, underwear, cigarette cartons, high quality booze, for Turk carpets and pipes and what little they made. Which wasn't much, Turkey had basically very little Industrial production back then but they did brew a really good beer which again we paid USD for. I traveled all over that country and never spent a single Lira. The Turks simply didn't want any.

Anyway he explained to me how the few Turks lucky enough to have such jobs, and yes they had to grease the higher ups to get and keep them, loved the $USD because it was one of the few currencys that gold dealers would accept. And gold was the ultimate standard of wealth that opened the door to all kinds of social advancement. It was and is a PM of tremendous importance for a family to hold and to pass on. Most of their gold was in the form of Jewelry but they horde it in all forms. For a man to give a woman gold as a gift signals the most serious of intentions. Marriages are often sealed with gifts of gold. These countries are very mindful of the gold held in the hands of a family and possessing weight is a very important status symbol. They have virtually zero trust in their paper currency's.

They had a street right outside the base we called "rip off alley" that was ground zero for USD transactions and Black Market trading, "all of which was technically illegal". It was a street of small shops that sold local knick knacks, rugs, small restaurants....ect. Even the Turk waiters had to have clout because a position there gave access to $USD, which opened the door to buying gold, which opened the door to social and professional advancement. They may of disliked Americans but they loved $USD, pound stirling, and other currencys that actually held value. Unlike their own.

Its really quite fascinating.

file:///C:/Users/Admin/Downloads/Perspectives%20on%20the%20Turkish%20gold%20market.pdf

 

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