Gold ETF Holdings Gobbled Up By China

Washington (Dec 16)  All eyes are on the FOMC this week and speculation is high that the Federal Reserve may taper. Fed policymakers gather for the last time in 2013 for a two day policy meeting that concludes this Wednesday.

The dreaded ‘taper’ is becoming a bit of a caper as the death of QE is greatly exaggerated. While a taper is indeed possible, any reduction in bond buying is likely to be small and of the order of less than $15 billion. This means that the Fed is likely to keep its bond buying program at close to $70 billion per month which is still very high and unprecedented for any industrial nation in modern history.

This still high level of debt monetisation, in conjunction with continuing zero percent interest rate policies is bullish for gold.

ETP liquidations have been one of the primary reasons for gold’s weakness in 2013. ETP holdings may continue to fall as more speculative investors reduce allocations to gold and some ETP buyers sold in order to move to the safety of allocated gold.

However, the supply demand data clearly shows that ETP liquidations are being matched by robust global demand, especially in China. Even if ETP holdings dropped by another 300 plus tonnes in 2014, average Chinese imports through Hong Kong alone are running at well over 100 tonnes per month.

Outflows of gold from ETFs amounted to 24.3 million ounces, nearly 700 metric tonnes, in 2013 from their peak at the end of 2012. Much of this gold was taken out of ETF holdings in London and shipped to refineries in Switzerland, where it was melted down and made into kilogramme bars, then sent to Hong Kong and ultimately to China.

Imports from Hong Kong to China totaled 26.6 million ounces or 754 metric tonnes through September alone. It is unknown where the gold would come from to replenish these ETF holdings were there a sudden surge in demand in the West in the event of a new sovereign debt crisis or a Lehman Brothers style contagion event.