36% Of October US Gold Exports To China Went Direct Rather Than Via Hong Kong

Latest statistics from the USGS make for interesting reading – not because they show U.S. gold output has been continuing to fall – it’s down 7.4% year on year to date – but for the country by country export data.  We have been commenting on Mineweb.com for much of this year that imports to mainland China via Hong Kong remain significant, but by no means as significant as in the past.  We have come up with this viewpoint through extrapolation of Chinese Shanghai Gold Exchange data, which has been high – particularly in the final quarter of the year – even while net gold imports from Hong Kong have slipped sharply.  That’s an anomaly that is hard to explain unless substantial gold imports are coming in by other routes.

But I’ve just received some interesting statistical data from the USGS which shows that a substantial proportion of U.S. gold exports to Hong Kong and China in October went directly to the mainland.  The figures were 12.9 tonnes to Hong Kong and 7.4 tonnes directly to the mainland – or 36%.  This ties in remarkably well with our opinions on the breakdown of Chinese gold imports and that while Hong Kong remains a significant import route it is not nearly so important in the overall picture as it used to be.  By contrast, in October 2013, only 0.36 tonnes were shipped direct to the mainland and 17.8 tonnes to Hong Kong.  A very substantial change indeed.

I have commented recently (yesterday) in an article on Mineweb on the continuing emphasis by mainstream media on the Hong Kong to China export figures which taken at face value would seem to present a misleading picture.  Do click on How significant was the 32% fall in Hong Kong exports to China  (https://www.gold-eagle.com/article/how-significant-was-32-fall-hk-gold-exports-china ) to read this article in full.

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Courtesy of http://lawrieongold.com/