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BullionStar Blogs

BullionStar is renowned for presenting original research and expertise
covering the most important trends in the precious metals markets.

World Gold Council Hides Insatiable Chinese Gold Demand

World Gold Council Hides Insatiable Chinese Gold Demand

  • date
  • author Koos Jansen

The amount of gold withdrawn from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), which equals Chinese wholesale gold demand, accounted for 45 tonnes in the trading week that ended on 6 November. Year to date SGE withdrawals have reached an astonishing 2,210 tonnes, which is more than the full year record set in 2013 at … Continue Reading arrow

UK Gold Export To China Hit Record In September

UK Gold Export To China Hit Record In September

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  • author Koos Jansen

According to the most recent data from Eurostat the UK has net exported 37.6 tonnes of gold to China in September, an all-time record. This figure is up 25 % m/m and up 280 % y/y. The UK started exporting gold directly to China in April 2014 when it shipped 5 tonnes to the mainland while for the first time bypassing … Continue Reading arrow

Largest Chinese Gold Deposit Has Been Found 2,000m Undersea

Largest Chinese Gold Deposit Has Been Found 2,000m Undersea

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  • author Koos Jansen

The largest ever gold deposit in China has been found in the East China Sea, near the Sanshan Islands in the Shandong province, at a depth of 2,000 meters, the People’s Daily Online reported on Tuesday. The Shandong Provincial No. 3 Institute of Geological and Mineral Survey announced on Monday the massive gold deposit in … Continue Reading arrow

COMEX Deliveries vs. SGE Withdrawals

COMEX Deliveries vs. SGE Withdrawals

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  • author Koos Jansen

Withdrawals from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, a number by which we can measure Chinese wholesale gold demand, accounted for 47 tonnes in week 42 (26 – 30 October 2015). Strangely, this is a weak number if we compare it to the rest of this year. Still, 47 tonnes of gold equals 47,000 … Continue Reading arrow

Confusion at the LBMA Conference About Gold Round Tripping
The Official Chinese Gold Trade Rules By The PBoC

The Official Chinese Gold Trade Rules By The PBoC

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  • author Koos Jansen

Readers can download the original Chinese Measures for the Import and Export of Gold and Gold Products from the People’s Bank Of China (PBOC) here. Be advised the Measures for the Import and Export of Gold and Gold Products can be confusing if not connected to Chinese trade rules in general. In the translation below reference is being made … Continue Reading arrow

Why Austria Is Repatriating Gold From London

Why Austria Is Repatriating Gold From London

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  • author Koos Jansen

At the LBMA conference in Vienna, which was held from 18 – 20 October 2015, the Executive Director of the Austrian central bank, Peter Mooslechner, was interviewed by Editor-in-Chief for Kitco News, Daniele Cambone. You can watch the interview here. This particular interview is interesting because the central banker from Austria made some exceptional remarks … Continue Reading arrow

Venezuela Says 'Adiós' to Her Gold Reserves
Russia's VTB Bank Joins As SGE Member

Russia's VTB Bank Joins As SGE Member

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  • author Koos Jansen

Another strong week for gold demand at the Shanghai Gold Exchange – China’s main physical gold bourse. From 19 until 23 October 57 tonnes have been withdrawn from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), according to data released on Friday by the SGE. Year to date 2,119 tonnes have been withdrawn. With a … Continue Reading arrow

The Real Ponzi Scheme

The Real Ponzi Scheme

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  • author BullionStar
  • comments 0 Comments

BullionStar was founded on the belief that precious metals generally, and gold specifically, has a central role in the monetary sphere. Gold is rare, beautiful and has superior metallic characteristics to other metals. Furthermore, gold is durable, portable, divisible, fungible and possesses intrinsic value. This has led to gold being used as money throughout most … Continue Reading arrow

Cashless Society, Negative Rates, and Hyperinflation – Pt. 1

Cashless Society, Negative Rates, and Hyperinflation – Pt. 1

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  • author BullionStar
  • comments 5 Comments

If you’d suggested just a few years ago that we’d soon be living in a global economic landscape in which an increasing number of central banks would have their interest rates set to zero, or even negative, most people would have thought you where outright mad. What seemed crazy and absurd then is reality now in an … Continue Reading arrow

SGE Withdrawals At Record High 1,958 Tons YTD

SGE Withdrawals At Record High 1,958 Tons YTD

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  • author Koos Jansen

Year to date withdrawals from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) came in at a staggering 1,958 tonnes on 25 September 2015 – a record high – according to data released by the SGE on Friday. In week 38, which runs from 21 September until 25 September, 66 tonnes of gold were withdrawn … Continue Reading arrow

How Much Gold Is China Importing?

How Much Gold Is China Importing?

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  • author Koos Jansen

We have some catching up to do in terms of discussing Chinese gold import in H1 2015 and how this relates to withdrawals from Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) vaults. For this post it’s advised you’ve read The Mechanics Of The Chinese Domestic Gold Market to have a basic understanding of the physical gold supply and … Continue Reading arrow

Back to Basics: Gold ETFs 101
The Chinese Gold Market: Lost In Translation

The Chinese Gold Market: Lost In Translation

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  • author Koos Jansen

There are a few analyses making rounds on the internet about gold owned by the People’s Bank Of China (PBOC). I’m always interested in these analyses, as I like to be aware of all knowledge available on this subject, but I rarely agree with them. The big questions that remain in the gold space are, … Continue Reading arrow

Bundesbank STILL Fails to Deliver a Gold Bar Number List
The Real Reason Belgium Sold 1,098 Tonnes Of Gold

The Real Reason Belgium Sold 1,098 Tonnes Of Gold

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  • author Koos Jansen

Belgium sold 1,098 tonnes of its official gold reserves since 1978. For our global investigation how much physical gold central banks have stored at what location and how much is leased out, I decided to submit the local equivalent of a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request at the central bank of Belgium, de Nationale Bank … Continue Reading arrow

German Central Bank Publishes Gold Bar List

German Central Bank Publishes Gold Bar List

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  • author Koos Jansen

The central bank of Germany, the Bundesbank, has published the bar list of all German official gold reserves stored in Frankfurt am Main, London, Paris and New York. The list contains the bar numbers, melt or inventory numbers, the gross and fine weight as well as the fineness of the gold. German official gold reserves … Continue Reading arrow

Chinese & Russian Central Banks Continue to Accumulate Gold

Chinese & Russian Central Banks Continue to Accumulate Gold

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  • author Koos Jansen

The People’s Bank Of China (PBOC) has added 16 tonnes of gold to its official reserves now totalling 1,694 tonnes in August 2015. The gain in August is the third monthly increment in a row after a period of silence by the PBOC since 2009. The change in reporting, the amounts reported and the fact the … Continue Reading arrow

Central Banks’ Secrecy On Gold Storage Arrangements

Central Banks’ Secrecy On Gold Storage Arrangements

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  • author Ronan Manly
  • comments 4 Comments

Whereas some central banks have become more forthcoming on where they claim their official gold reserves are stored (see my recent blog post ‘Central bank gold at the Bank of England‘), many of the world’s central banks remain secretive in this regard, with some central bank staff saying that they are not allowed to provide … Continue Reading arrow

Switzerland Investigates Possible Collusion in Gold Trading
The London Float & PBoC Gold Purchases

The London Float & PBoC Gold Purchases

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  • author Koos Jansen

Did the PBOC covertly buy 1,747 tonnes of gold in London? This BullionStar blogpost is part of a chronological storyline. Please make sure you’ve read The Mechanics Of The Chinese Domestic Gold Market, PBOC Gold Purchases: Separating Facts from Speculation and The London Bullion Market And International Gold Trade, or it will be difficult to understand … Continue Reading arrow

Central Bank Gold at the Bank of England

Central Bank Gold at the Bank of England

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  • author Ronan Manly
  • comments 14 Comments

In a recent article, “How many Good Delivery gold bars are in all the London Vaults?….including the Bank of England vaults“, I considered how much gold is actually in the London Gold Market, and highlighted how the amount of gold stored in the London wholesale market has fallen noticeably in recent years. That article highlighted … Continue Reading arrow

The London Bullion Market & International Gold Trade

The London Bullion Market & International Gold Trade

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  • author Koos Jansen

Shortly after Ronan Manly released its epic post on 7 September 2015 about how much gold there is left in London, an email exchange started circulating among a small group of bloggers in a joint effort to figure out the apportionment between monetary and non-monetary gold in the capital of England. The group of bloggers consists … Continue Reading arrow

New York & London Gold In Backwardation

New York & London Gold In Backwardation

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  • author Koos Jansen

Not often in financial markets is the future price of gold is lower than the spot price (live), but lately we’ve witnessed such an event in both the New York and London gold market. This is called backwardation, the opposite of contango. What causes backwardation and will it increase the price of gold? In my … Continue Reading arrow

Six Months on ICE – The LBMA Gold Price

Six Months on ICE – The LBMA Gold Price

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  • author Ronan Manly
  • comments 0 Comments

It’s now been 6 months since the LBMA Gold Price auction, the much touted replacement to the London Gold Fixings, was launched on an ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) platform on Friday 20 March 2015. For anyone not au fait with the gold price auction, the LBMA Gold Price is a twice daily auction that produces … Continue Reading arrow

India Imported 138t Gold In August

India Imported 138t Gold In August

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  • author Koos Jansen

Last week I reported India had shipped in 126 tonnes of gold in August according to provisional data. Newswire The Economic Times today reports India has imported 138 tonnes of gold in August, which is 9 % more than my estimate. Year to date India has imported 666 tonnes of gold, up 69 % year on year. Annualized … Continue Reading arrow

It’s Virtually Impossible to Get Physical Gold in London

It’s Virtually Impossible to Get Physical Gold in London

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  • author Koos Jansen

Just after my colleague Ronan Manly wrote a very extensive article on how much gold is left in London (not much), Petropavlovsk Chairman and Co-Founder Peter Hambro discusses gold at Bloomberg Television. He, like Manly, concludes there is very little physical gold left in London. From Mr Hambro: My baseline is they [the Chinese] have been buying … Continue Reading arrow

India's Precious Metals Imports Surge

India's Precious Metals Imports Surge

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  • author Koos Jansen

In the month of August 2015, India imported 126 tonnes of gold and 1,400 tonnes of silver, according to data from Infodrive India. Gold import into India is rising after a steep fall due to government import restrictions implemented in 2013. Year-to-date India has imported 654 tonnes of gold, which is 66 % up year … Continue Reading arrow

How Many Gold Bars Are in London's Vaults?

How Many Gold Bars Are in London's Vaults?

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  • author Ronan Manly
  • comments 14 Comments

Each year in June, the Bank of England publishes its annual report which quotes financial data up to the end of February (its financial year-end). The Bank’s annual report also states the amount of gold, valued at a market price in Pounds sterling, that it holds under custody for its customers, which comprise central banks, … Continue Reading arrow

The LBMA’s Shifting Stance on Gold Refining Statistics
BullionStar Fiscal 2015 – Year in Review

BullionStar Fiscal 2015 – Year in Review

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  • author BullionStar
  • comments 2 Comments

BullionStar reported sales revenues of SGD 63.4 for FY 2015, up 43.8 % compared to FY 2014. The infographic below shows some of the highlights of the BullionStar’s financial year 2015. Continue Reading arrow

Record Monthly Gold Exports From UK to China

Record Monthly Gold Exports From UK to China

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  • author Koos Jansen

The UK net exported a record 32.4 tonnes of gold directly to China mainland in June 2015. In 2014 the conventional conduits of bullion flows to China, from all around the world first to Hong Kong and then to the mainland, have been replaced by direct exports. For example, the UK is exporting bullion directly to China … Continue Reading arrow

The Concept of Money & the Money Illusion

The Concept of Money & the Money Illusion

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  • author Koos Jansen

Awareness about the concept of money is making a comeback. Gone are the decades in which the global citizenry was fooled to leave this subject to economists, governments and banks – a setup that has proven to end in disaster. The crisis in 2008 has spawned debate about what money is, where it comes from … Continue Reading arrow

Guest Post: Eurodollars and The Gold Market – Part One

Guest Post: Eurodollars and The Gold Market – Part One

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  • author Koos Jansen

Written by Alexander Mirolyubov One of the most important factors driving the gold price is financial stress. When the latter is changing it always finds a resolution in the interest to the yellow metal. However, gold price adjustments can pass immediately or with some kind of delay. 
This time lag is important to gold investors … Continue Reading arrow

Theory On China’s Gold Strategy

Theory On China’s Gold Strategy

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  • author Koos Jansen

Developments at the Chinese central bank (PBOC) hint at more moves towards gold. The most important recent gold developments are; (i) the PBOC updated its official gold reserves from 1,054 tonnes to 1,658 tonnes on 17 July, (ii) the PBOC devalued the renminbi by approximately 3 % on 11 August, (iii) the PBOC again updated … Continue Reading arrow

BullionStar Featured on Channel 8 News

BullionStar Featured on Channel 8 News

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  • author BullionStar
  • comments 0 Comments

The price of both gold and silver has fallen substantially during the last few weeks. This has ushered in a waive of physical gold and silver buying, with very large volumes and a lot of first time customers. When the largest channel for the mandarin speaking public in Singapore, Channel 8, made a news coverage … Continue Reading arrow

The Bank of England’s Revealing Views On Gold in 1988

The Bank of England’s Revealing Views On Gold in 1988

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  • author Ronan Manly
  • comments 2 Comments

Below is an interesting 1988 discussion paper on gold, written by Bank of England staff. The original paper can be found in pdf here. The United Kingdom’s gold reserves belong to HM Treasury (HMT) and are held in the Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA), but managed by the Bank of England on behalf of HMT. The discussion paper … Continue Reading arrow

Swiss Gold Refineries and the Sale of Valcambi
The Misinterpretation of Money

The Misinterpretation of Money

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  • author BullionStar
  • comments 1 Comments

In its simplest form, money is a substitution for barter to make trade more efficient (formally: medium of exchange) but money is also a means for generating production by allowing for saving and investment (store of value) and for accounting and reconciliation (unit of account). Different economic schools view money differently. Even for the doctrines advocating … Continue Reading arrow

Analyzing PBOC Official Gold Reserves Increment
Paper vs. Physical Gold & Silver in Times of Crisis
Gold Price & Gold Demand

Gold Price & Gold Demand

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  • author BullionStar
  • comments 0 Comments

This interview with Torgny Persson and Gustav Andersson from BullionStar was conducted by the Singaporean blogger SG Wealth Builder 8 July 2015. Question: In view of the emergence of China as the leading producer and importer of gold bullion, what do you think would be the implications for the global markets and how should investors in … Continue Reading arrow

China Rapidly Changing International Gold Market

China Rapidly Changing International Gold Market

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  • author Koos Jansen

Since 2007 China has the largest domestic gold mining output, since 2011 the Shanghai Gold Exchange has been the largest physical gold exchange and in 2013 and 2014 China was the largest importer. Now the Chinese seek to escalate pricing power. From the beginning of the liberalization of China’s gold market in 2002, the governor … Continue Reading arrow

How Much Are Chinese Gold Reserves?

How Much Are Chinese Gold Reserves?

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  • author Koos Jansen

There has been much speculation about a slide from chairman and secretary-general of the China Gold Association Zhang Bingnan presented at the LBMA forum in Shanghai June 25, 2015. The slide states Chinese gold reserves are 9,816.03 tonnes, however, this refers to in ground mining reserves. I have never received so many emails and tweets as … Continue Reading arrow

Oxi (No) is the Vote; Increased Demand For Gold

Oxi (No) is the Vote; Increased Demand For Gold

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  • author BullionStar
  • comments 4 Comments

PRESS RELEASE 6th July 2015 For immediate release Singapore: Demand for physical gold has increased significantly in the last week leading up to the Greek referendum and is expected to continue to increase following Sunday’s outcome of the referendum with 61 % voting No. Mr. Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar Pte Ltd says: ”Demand for … Continue Reading arrow

Global Financial Turmoil, Gold Price Doesn’t Move
Former U.S. Mint Director Clueless On Gold In Fort Knox

Former U.S. Mint Director Clueless On Gold In Fort Knox

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  • author Koos Jansen

The Curious Case Of Edmund C. Moy Former US Mint director Ed Moy has made numerous false and self-contradictory statements regarding the gold at Fort Knox – a facility managed by the US Mint. The is post is a sequel to A First Glance At US Official Gold Reserves Audits, Second Thoughts On US Official Gold Reserves Audits and … Continue Reading arrow

Gold Fund To Serve The New Strategy Of The Silk Road
Pre-2015 London Gold Fixings Were Surprisingly Sophisticated
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