Gold Market Charts – February 2017
by BullionStar, via Gold Seek:
Gold market charts is a recent addition to the BullionStar research offering. Using charts as a central focus, each month we explore the evolution of a chosen set of charts so as to highlight key developments in gold demand, supply and physical movement data across the world’s major gold markets. The charts presented are created by the unique GOLD CHARTS R US website and they include Russian gold reserve changes, Chinese and Indian gold demand, and Swiss gold trade flow statistics.
BullionStar’s website also features BullionStar’s own gold and silver price charts under the BullionStar Charts menu, where, for example, you can measure stock indices and currencies in terms of gold and other precious metals.
Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) – Gold Withdrawals
Physical gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange in January 2017 totalled 184 tonnes. This was 18% lower than January 2016 SGE gold withdrawals of 225 tonnes, but there were less trading days in January 2017 for Chinese financial markets due to the Chinese New Year and Golden Week holidays falling within the tail end of January this year compared to having fallen in the second week of February last year.
Gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange are arguably a good proxy for overall Chinese wholesale gold demand (excluding monetary gold demand by the Chinese central bank). On a cumulative basis, SGE gold withdrawals have now reached 13,213 tonnes since the beginning of 2008, which is on average over 1450 tonnes of gold per year.
Chinese and Indian Gold Demand
Adding together Shanghai Gold Exchange physical gold withdrawals, Chinese central bank gold holdings, and Indian physical gold imports, gives a workable proxy for combined Chinese and Indian gold demand, i.e. physical gold demand from the world’s two major gold powerhouses, most of which is supplied by or passes through such nations as Switzerland, the UK, the US, Australia, and South Africa.
Through to the end of December 2016, cumulative total gold tonnage for SGE gold withdrawals, Chinese central bank gold holdings, and Indian gold imports was 21,175 tonnes compared to 20,938 tonnes at the end of November 2016.
Russian Gold Reserves
The Bank of Russia added a massive 1 million ounces (31.1 tonnes) of monetary gold to its foreign exchange and gold reserves during January, thereby signalling a strong start to its 2017 gold accumulation strategy. The January increase was on a par with a similar increase of 1 million ounces which the central bank made in November 2016.
The Russian central bank accumulates its gold via purchases from large Russian commercial banks, who in turn source the metal via agreements with Russian gold mining companies. The Russian Federation, through the Bank of Russia, now holds 1645 tonnes of gold. After adding 200 tonnes to its gold reserves in 2016, the evolution of Russian monetary gold reserves during 2017 is a key theme to watch.
Transparent Gold Holdings – ETFs and Others
The trend established in January of sustained increases in the gold holdings of gold-backed ETFs and similar vehicles has persisted into February, with registered holdings of the vehicles under coverage continuing to increase. As of 24 February, the combined gold holdings of the products and platforms in the below chart stood at 2,683 tonnes. The January – February period now represents the longest cumulative inflow of metal into these vehicles since mid-2016.
