by David Kranzler
Investment Research Dynamics
The news that China has been to some degree crowded out this year by Western demand for gold is of minor importance compared to this further evidence that the mighty double-digit growth 15+ year surge in Chinese domestic gold production seems at last to have topped out. This means Chinese appetite for gold will increasingly have to be met from overseas. – John Brimelow, JB’s Gold Jottings report LINK
It was reported by Reuters Africa yesterday that Chinese gold production in the first half of 2016 was up slightly from the same period in 2015. 2015 production was down .4% from 2014.
If the amount of China’s domestically produced gold begins to decline, China’s enormous demand for gold will require a lot more gold imported from the rest of the world. This will make things interesting – given the already enormous supply/demand deficit in deliverable physical gold – because we know that, based on retail gold coin sales in the U.S., Canada, England and Australia, retail demand in the west is picking up quickly.