This Month in Gold – March 2014

Korea Begins Spot Gold Trade
Wall Street Journal – The South Korean stock exchange has started trading physical spot gold for the first time, hoping to increase tax revenue from the yellow metal. South Koreans trade about 110 tons of gold every year, of which about 70 tons, worth $3 billion, are traded on the untaxed black market. Black market gold is a popular way to hide income and avoid taxes. The government is incentivizing gold traders to use the Korea Exchange by waiving import duties and offering tax reductions on these gold transactions. Read Full Article>>

China Gold Imports & Consumption Rise
Bloomberg – Chinese gold imports from Hong Kong increased to 109.2 metric tons in February, compared to 83.6 tons in January and 60.9 tons YoY. Chinese buyers purchased a total of 125 tons in February, compared to 102.6 tons in January and 97.1 tons YoY. Higher imports are due to more banks being allowed to import the metal. Greater consumption is attributed to good sales during the Lunar New Year. As of 2013, China passed India to become the largest gold consumer in the world. Read Full Article>>

Singapore Opens 600-Ton Silver Vault
Bloomberg – Silver Bullion Pte, a retail metals company in Singapore, has opened a new 600 metric ton silver vault. After doubling its sales in 2013, the company opened the vault to meet increasing investor demand. The company reports that most of its 2013 sales were in silver and that Americans are the biggest group of buyers. The new vault is for private clients, but might also be made available to financial institutions. A 200-ton silver vault opened in Singapore in July by a Hong Kong-based company is already full. Read Full Article>>

Global Debt Over $100 Trillion
Bloomberg – From mid-2007 to mid-2013, global debt increased more than 40% to $100 trillion, according to the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements. The borrowing increase was due to interest rate suppression by central banks trying to stimulate a recovery from the US subprime mortgage crisis. The largest debt issuers have been governments. Outstanding US government debt alone has risen from $4.5 trillion to a record $12 trillion. During the same period, the value of equities declined $3.86 trillion. Read Full Article>>

Largest Gold Purchase in 3 Years
Bloomberg – The government of Iraq bought 36 metric tons of gold last month, the largest single purchase since Mexico bought 78.5 tons in March 2011. The Central Bank of Iraq hopes the gold holdings will help stabilize the Iraqi dinar against other currencies. While Iraq is only the 40th-largest gold holder in the world, Director Mark O’Byrne of GoldCore Ltd. said that this kind of buying is an important indicator “that there’s an ongoing demand from central banks that is likely to continue.” Iraq does not intend to sell its gold reserves in the foreseeable future, said the director general of investments at the Iraqi central bank. Read Full Article>>

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