Asia Shocks West By Demanding Their Gold Be Sent Home

"After an initial $20 plunge, the price of gold turned violently higher and closed near the highs in what turned out to be almost a $50 trading range.  In the aftermath of this turbulent trading, today one of the legends in the business shocked King World News when he said the reason for the wild trading action was that Asian central banks were demanding their gold, some of which is being stored in Western vaults, be sent home to Asia. 

Keith Barron, who consults with major companies around the world and is responsible for one of the largest gold discoveries in the last quarter century, also spoke about the stunning reason for this game-changing move by Asian central banks.  Below is what Barron had to say in this powerful interview.

 

Barron:  “Gold and silver are having a fierce rally on the heels of a release from the World Gold Council, but I will discuss the remarkable events which are taking place behind the scenes that are the real reason for this rally in just a minute.  First, this World Gold Council report discussed outflows of gold from the ETFs.  They were also confirming what KWN has already reported -- that this gold is going straight into Asia.

 

Somebody from UBS was interviewed this morning, and they were also saying, ‘The gold leaving the COMEX vaults is likely headed to Asia.’  It’s obvious this is what has been happening for many, many months now.  If you look at the premiums in Shanghai today, they are running at a steep $22....

“So it’s become quite apparent that bullion banks have been taking the gold out of the ETFs and capturing the premium in Asia by selling the ETF gold overseas.  But the interesting thing here is the physical demand, and I have been discussing this on King World News for some time. 

 

There was a 37% increase in jewelry demand, a staggering 78% increase in gold bar and coin demand, and there was also a 63% increase in investment demand.  These are remarkable numbers.  There was a stunning 71% rise in total demand from India, and an 85% rise in demand from China.

There were some additional jaw-dropping numbers that have come out of China in a separate report.  During the second quarter there were 385.5 tons of gold consumed in China through jewelry.  That is a huge percentage of world production, and that figure is double what was recorded in the previous year.  That’s absolutely astounding.

This data is also indicating a massive rise in the importation of gold into China from the previous year.  Demand for gold is just exploding all over the place.  In India they just increased the gold import duty once again.  It’s been rising steadily from 2% to 8%, but India just raised it again -- this time to 10%.

It is highly likely that the Western central planners, the Fed and the ECB specifically, have demanded that the Indians impose these taxes and duties in a desperate attempt to choke off physical demand for gold in India.  Western central planners can’t use much influence on China, but they can strong-arm India.

So there has been an attempt by the Central Bank of India to greatly decrease the amount of money going into physical gold, but it’s not working.  People always find another way to get physical gold.  Gold is now the most seized material at the borders and at the airports in India.

There is a very, very healthy black market for smuggled gold into India.  This is what happens when you try to artificially kill demand.  The people of India want the gold, and the authorities are desperately trying to kill it off and they are not being successful.  So the gold is being supplied through the black market and smuggling, and that will just continue.”

at http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/8/15_Asia_Shocks_West_By_Demanding_Their_Gold_Be_Sent_Home.html