The Chinese gold jewelry market reversed three years of declines in 2017, marking its first gain since a 2013 boom. According to a report released by the World Gold Council, the modest increase in gold jewelry demand last year could mark a return to sustained growth thanks to continued efforts to reinvigorate the industry through innovation, along with growing Chinese incomes.
The Chinese jewelry market is an important component in the overall global demand for gold. Jewelry accounts for more than half the yearly gold demand, and the Chinese make up about 30% of the gold jewelry market.
World Gold Council chief market strategist John Reade recently talked to Commodity TV about the current state of the gold market and what he sees in the future.
Reade cast an optimistic tone, saying the supply and demand fundamentals point toward a healthy, growing gold market moving forward.
Last week, we explained how economic sanctions on Iran could boost the price of gold as Iranians turn to the yellow metal as a way to skirt restrictions. In a recent article published by the Daily Reckoning, financial expert Jim Rickards put this in a broader context. He described an evolving “axis of gold” as a number of countries, including China, Russia, Turkey and Iran increasingly use physical metal to create an offensive counterweight to the dollar.
This gold-based payments system will dilute and ultimately eliminate the impact of US dollar-based sanctions.”
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Imports of gold into China via Hong Kong surged in March, rising 78.67% compared to February.
The amount of the yellow metal moving into mainland China via Hong Kong rose to 59.4 tons in March, up from 33.25 tons in February, according to data emailed to Reuters by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.
In a world drowning in debt, the US stands out, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Global debt has reached record levels. According to a recent IMF report, the world has amassed $164 trillion of debt. That comes to 225% of global debt to GDP, levels not seen since the peak of the 2008 financial crisis when combined public and private sector global debt-to-GDP hit 213%.
Late last month, China finally launched its much anticipated yuan-denominated oil futures contract. Many analysts think this is yet another sign that the mighty dollar’s world dominance is coming to an end.
Turkey went on a gold-buying spree in 2017 and that trend continued in the first two months of 2018. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan likes gold and it’s pretty clear the president has been pushing Turkey’s central bank to buy gold and reduce foreign currency reserves in an effort to move away from dependence on the dollar and euro.
On April 16, Erdoğan got a little more overt in his apparent quest to dethrone the dollar, suggesting international loans should be made in gold instead of greenbacks in order to prevent exchange rate pressure on economies.
Last week, Pres. Trump said US markets might have to endure some short-term pain if the trade war with China escalates. But never fear, in the long run, everything will be great!
We have to do things that other people wouldn’t do. So, we may take a hit, but you know what, ultimately, we’re going to be much stronger for it.”
Peter Schiff agreed there is going to be short-term pain. And we’re also going to suffer some long-term pain.
Peter wasn’t focusing so much on the trade war, but a scenario certainly exists where Chinese retaliation could lead to some serious long-term pain for the US economy. It could pull out the ace up its sleeve.
The trade war is heating up. Could it jump-start a breakout in gold?
Some analysts think so.
China fired a salvo in what could become a full-blown trade war on Monday. The Asian nation slapped tariffs of up to 25% on 128 US products including frozen pork, wine and steel pipes in retaliation for US tariffs levied on Chinese steel and aluminum.
