Gold: Crash in den westlichen ETFs, physischer Kaufrausch in Fernost

Während das wichtigste Gold-ETF, SPDR Gold Trust / GLD, weitere Abflüsse am Montag vermeldet, steigt die physische Nachfrage in Fernost weiter bedeutend an. In China sprechen Marktpartizipanten bereits schon vom größten Goldrausch der letzten 50 Jahre.

"Gold Rush" in China "Biggest in Half a Century" But ETFs Still Liquidating 

WHOLESALE gold bullion prices rallied back above $1420 an ounce Tuesday morning in London, having earlier dipped back towards where they started the week following yesterday's 2% jump amid what one Hong Kong dealer suggested was the biggest rush to buy gold in half a century..

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The world's largest gold exchange traded fund SPDR Gold Trust (ticker: GLD) continued to see net outflows Monday, with his holdings ending the day down more than 18 tonnes at 1104.7 tonnes.

Since the start of 2013, the volume of gold held to back GLD shares has dropped nearly 20%.

In China by contrast, "physical gold dealers and jewelry makers have had to replenish their inventory following robust sales," according to Song Heping, assistant manager at Xiamen City Commercial Bank.

On the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the equivalent of 40.6 tonnes was traded in the benchmark 'four nines' spot contract (for gold of 99.99% purity) Tuesday, down a little from yesterday's record of 43.6 tonnes. By comparison, the previous record, set on February 18 this year immediately after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, was 22 tonnes.

"Physical markets have responded to the much cheaper gold price levels," says UBS precious metals analyst Joni Teves.

"Our physical flows to Asia have been particularly elevated this week."

"In terms of volume, I haven't seen this gold rush for over 20 years," says Haywood Cheung, president of the Hong Kong Gold & Silver Exchange Society, quoted by the Financial Times.

"Older members who have been in the business for 50 years haven't seen such a thing."

Dealers in Hong Kong Tuesday reported gold bars selling at premiums over the spot price not seen for eighteen months, citing supply constraints for physical bullion..

Link: http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/ben-traynor/gold-rush-in-china-biggest-in-half-a-century