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Koos Jansen is a precious metal analyst from the Netherlands. Koos
mainly provides unique insights about Chinese gold market.
Koos Jansen
Singapore has been a major gold supplier to China since 2013, which was previously not publicly known. According to Statlink, Singapore net exported 102 tonnes to China in 2017, a record year and up 177 % from 2016. In total China net imported an estimated 1,082 tonnes in 2017, while SGE(I) withdrawals accounted for 2,030 tonnes. Continue Reading 
Koos Jansen
According to the United States Treasury its 261 million ounces (± 8,100 tonnes) in official gold reserves are fully audited and accounted for. Because for many decades rumours are making rounds this gold has been covertly sold, in this essay we’ll thoroughly scrutinise the audits – indirectly evaluating the accuracy of the gold claims by the Treasury. What we’ll encounter is a... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
While the gold price is slowly crawling upward in the shadow of the current cryptocurrency boom, China continues to import huge tonnages of yellow metal. As usual, Chinese investors bought on the price dips in the past quarters, steadfastly accumulating for a rainy day. The Chinese appear to be price sensitive regarding gold, as was mentioned in the most recent World Gold Council Demand... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
On September 1, 2017, the Nikkei Asian Review published an article titled, “China sees new world order with oil benchmark backed by gold”, written by Damon Evans. Just below the headline in the introduction it states, “China is expected shortly to launch a crude oil futures contract priced in yuan and convertible into gold in what analysts say could be a game-changer for the... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
My best estimate as of June 2017 with respect to total above ground gold reserves within the Chinese domestic market is 20,193 tonnes. The majority of these reserves are held by the citizenry, an estimated 16,193 tonnes; the residual 4,000 tonnes, which is a speculative yet conservative estimate, is held by the Chinese central bank the People’s Bank of China. Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
This post is part of the Chinese Gold Market essentials series. Click here to go to an overview of all Chinese Gold Market Essentials for a comprehensive understanding of the largest physical gold market globally. This post was updated late 2017. In this post we will analyze everything there is to learn about PBOC gold purchases. Grasping the exact size of … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
In response to my FOIA request the US Mint has finally released reports related to the physical audits of the US official gold reserves drafted from 1993 through 2008. However the documents released are incomplete and reveal the audit procedures have not been executed proficiently. Moreover, because the Mint could not honor its promises in full the costs ($3,144.96 US dollars) of the... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
For 2016 international merchandise trade statistics point out China has net imported roughly 1,300 tonnes of gold, down 17 % from 2015. The importance of measuring gold imports into the Chinese domestic gold market - which are prohibited from being back exported – is to come to the best understanding on the division of above ground reserves in and outside of the Chinese domestic... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
This post is part of the Chinese Gold Market Essentials series. Click here to go to an overview of all Chinese Gold Market Essentials for a comprehensive understanding of the largest physical gold market globally. This post was updated in 2017. The difference between SGE withdrawals and Chinese consumer gold demand as disclosed by GFMS has aggregated to … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
This post is part of the Chinese Gold Market Essentials series. Click here to go to an overview of all Chinese Gold Market Essentials for a comprehensive understanding of the largest physical gold market globally. This post was updated late 2017. The main arguments presented by Western consultancy firms, such as GFMS and the World Gold Council … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Last week the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) launched a new English website to offer international customers more tools on trading gold in renminbi through the Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI). BullionStar took the opportunity to translate a speech by a Teng Wei, Deputy General Manager of the SGEI, named “How China’s Gold Market Can Help The RMB Achieve International... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
From the moment Donald J. Trump got elected as the next President of the United States, on November 8, 2016, the price of gold tumbled 8 % in the remainder of the month – from $1,282 USD/oz to $1,178 USD/oz. Usually these cascades in the gold price go hand in hand with physical sell-offs in the West … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Physical gold located in Hong Kong and London is used to settle COMEX gold futures contracts through “Exchange For Physical” trading in the over-the-counter market. This post is a sequel to Understanding GOFO And The Gold Wholesale Market and COMEX Gold Futures Can Be Settled Directly With Eligible Inventory – in which Exchange For Physical … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
What came to light as on odd discrepancy between GFMS’ Chinese gold demand and “apparent supply" has proven to be a tenacious cover-up by the oldest consultancy firm in the gold market. And not only does GFMS publish incomplete and misleading data on Chinese gold demand, all its supply and demand data is incomplete and misleading. … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
This post is part of the Chinese Gold Market Essentials series. Click here to go to an overview of all Chinese Gold Market Essentials for a comprehensive understanding of the largest physical gold market globally. This post was updated in 2017. In the Gold Survey 2016 by Thomson Reuters GFMS there is a complex illegal scheme described whereby criminals obtain VAT invoices … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Withdrawals from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, which can be used as a proxy for Chinese wholesale gold demand, reached 1,406 tonnes in the first three quarters of 2016. Supply that went through the central bourse consisted of at least 905 tonnes imported gold, roughly 335 tonnes of domestic mine output, and 166 … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
More proof the “precious metals assets" on Chinese commercial bank balance sheets have little to do with the “surplus” gold in China’s domestic market. The “surplus" in the Chinese gold market is the difference between withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange vaults and gold demand as measured by consultancy firms like the World Gold Council and Thomson Reuters... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Interim research update. As readers might have seen on these pages, since 2014 I’ve been investigating the inventory audits of the US official gold reserves, which should proof the existence of the metal that embodies the credibility of the world reserve currency. My first article showed the official narrative: all the bars of in total 8,134 tonnes of … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
In the Netherlands we have a financial newspaper that prints on pink paper and is named “Het Financieel Dagblad”. Basically it’s the Dutch equivalent of the Financial Times. A few weeks ago I was interviewed by two of their reporters, Joost van Kuppeveld and Lenneke Arts. Today the interview was published as part of a … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
After years of gradually securing its official gold reserves (unwinding leases) the central bank of Austria claims to have completed the audits of its 224 tonnes of gold stored at the BOE. However, it refuses to publish the audit reports and the gold bar list. What could possibly be so sensitive to hide from public eyes? After the Germans … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Gold supply and demand data published by all primary consultancy firms is incomplete and misleading. The data falsely presents gold to be more of a commodity than a currency, having caused deep misconceptions with respect to the metal’s trading characteristics and price formation. Numerous consultancy firms around the world, for example Thomson Reuters GFMS, Metals … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
An often-perceived analysis in the gold community is that gold is the constant in our global economy. But is this true? Yes and no. Allow me to share my observations. Although gold has an exceptionally constant nature, and we have yet to see another currency that can compete with gold’s constant nature, the reality is, … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
This post is part of the Chinese Gold Market Essentials series. Click here to go to an overview of all Chinese Gold Market Essentials for a comprehensive understanding of the largest physical gold market globally. This post was updated in 2017. In 2013 we’ve witnessed the inception of the Chinese gold ETF market. At first demand for the gold ETFs was neglectable, as … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
This post is part of the Chinese Gold Market Essentials series. Click here to go to an overview of all Chinese Gold Market Essentials for a comprehensive understanding of the largest physical gold market globally. This post was updated late 2017. There has been much conjecture since 2014 about the increasing numbers in the “precious metals” category on the balance … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
My hunt for the gold bar list of the Dutch official gold reserves started in 2015. On September 26 of that year I visited a conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, called Reinvent Money. One of the speakers was Jacob De Haan from the Dutch central bank (DNB) Economics and Research Division – you can watch his presentation by clicking here. … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
The Chairman of the China Gold Association and General Manager and Party Committee Secretary of China National Gold Group Corporation, the latter being China’s largest gold mining enterprise, is Song Xin and happens to be one of my favorite commentators in China. This gentleman made waves in July 2014 when he candidly wrote on Sina … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Since 2014 I’ve been investigating the alleged audits of the US official gold reserves. Of course my goal is to figure out if these audits are credible, or if they’re invented by the US government to silence the people that think gold has any value and forms the very material basis for a well-functioning monetary system. My … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Debunking the Thomson Reuters GFMS Gold Survey 2016 report. New information provides a more detailed perspective on the Chinese domestic gold market. In the Gold Survey 2016 report by GFMS that covers the global gold market for calendar year 2015 Chinese gold consumption was assessed at 867 tonnes. As Chinese wholesale demand, measured by withdrawals … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
On a firmly rising gold price the UK is one of the largest net importers of gold in 2016. The gold price went up 25 % from $1,061.5 dollars per troy ounce on January 1 to $1,325.8 on June 31. Over this period the UK net imported 583 tonnes and GLD inventory mushroomed by 308 tonnes. In … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Since 2015 I’ve stated the raw data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on gold export to China mainland do not accurately reflect what is imported by China from the land of down under. In my previous post I’ve written Australia’s gold “export to China” should be adjusted by Hong Kong’s gold “import from Australia” as a … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Chinese wholesale gold demand, as measured by withdrawals from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), reached a sizable 973 metric tonnes in the first half of 2016, down 7 % compared to last year. Although Chinese gold demand year to date at 973 tonnes is slightly down from its record year in 2015 – … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
According to data released by the Swiss customs department on Tuesday, Venezuela has net exported 12 tonnes of gold to Switzerland in February 2016. In January Venezuela net exported 36 tonnes of gold to Switzerland, in total 48 tonnes was moved in the first two months of this year. On 16 March 2016 BullionStar researcher Ronan Manly reported … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
In two parts I will present an overview of the Chinese gold market for calendar year 2015. In this part we’ll focus on Shanghai Gold Exchange trading volumes. In the next post we’ll focus on physical supply and demand flows in Chinese gold market in 2015. First, let us quickly assess the core volume data … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Silk Road Gold Trading Kicks Off The other day I bumped into a small but potentially important news item on the website of the Shanghai Gold Exchange. The article was published in Mandarin, of course, as the Chinese (authorities) hardly ever publish valuable information in English – most articles published in English have been intentionally … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
I’ve received written confirmation by the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) delivery department that the Chinese Market Data Monthly Reports disclose the volume of physical gold withdrawn from SGE designated vaults. I’m thrilled to resume reporting these numbers and everything related to the Chinese gold market! It’s advised to have read The Chinese Gold Market Essentials Guide before... Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
While India’s gross gold bullion import in 2015 reached the third highest amount ever at 947 tonnes and gross silver bullion import reached the highest amount ever at 8,504 tonnes, the Indian government is perpetually trying to obstruct the populace from protecting their wealth. Last week I was going through gold and silver trade data released by the … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
The 100-ounce Gold futures contract listed on the COMEX in New York can be traded in OTC market through which the contract can be “settled" with anything that resembles the underlying asset, for example gold recorded as eligible inventory in COMEX approved depositories. Make sure you’ve read GOFO And The Gold Wholesale Market before continuing. … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
According to a press release the management team of the Dutch central bank has requested to investigate relocating the banknotes and gold vault that is currently located in the basement of bank’s headquarter at the Frederiksplein in Amsterdam. In the press release we can read the reason for the investigation to relocate the vault flows from preparations to … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
An essay on the relationship between GOFO, gold forwards, the gold lease rate and the US dollar interest rate. In order to continue to reveal essential information about the physical and paper gold markets around the world, first I would like to expand on the inner workings of the gold wholesale market. In this post we’ll use … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Switzerland has net imported 35.8 tonnes of gold from Venezuela in January 2016. This unusual high tonnage must be gold from the central bank of Venezuela – Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) – that has been swapping metal with banks or simply sold it in the open market. Remarkably, after Venezuela repatriated 160 tonnes in official gold reserves … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
When there is no more gold left in London to export the gold price is likely to go higher on strong global demand induced by economic headwind. At the time of writing the spot gold price is $1,251.80 per ounce, up 18 % year to date, while the S&P 500 is down 9 % year to date. In … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
It seems the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) is continuing to publish the amount of gold withdrawn from the vaults on a monthly basis. For the month of January “SGE withdrawals” accounted for 225 tonnes, down 1 % from December. After the first weekly SGE reports in 2016 did not disclose SGE withdrawal data and phone … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
I was invited by Scotiabank to speak about Chinese gold demand at their commodities outlook conference on 12 January 2016 in Toronto. Of course I was thrilled to come over and share what I’ve been studying for the past years – thanks again Scotiabank for inviting me! In my 20-minute presentation I could clearly explain … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
UPDATE 11 MARCH 2016: THE SGE HAS CONFIRMED TO CONTINUE PUBLISHING SGE WITHDRAWALS! My research into the Chinese gold market started in 2013 when I noted the significance of a number published on a weekly basis in the Chinese Market Data Weekly Reports on the website of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) regarding the amount … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
The Shanghai Gold Exchange launched a smartphone app for customers to trade gold. It’s advised to have read The Chinese Gold Market Essentials Guide before you continue. The main reason there is such a large discrepancy between Chinese gold demand as disclosed by the World Gold Council (WGC) and the amount of gold withdrawn from the vaults … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Did the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) just ceased publishing the weekly amount of gold withdrawn from the vaults? If so, the SGE has chosen to add another layer of secrecy over the Chinese gold market. As, SGE withdrawals provide a unique metric for Chinese wholesale gold demand. This started on 11 January 2016 when the SGE released the “Announcement on … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
As China doesn’t publicly disclose how much gold it imports, we have to combine the foreign trade statistics from all large gold exporting nations to figure out how much is flowing to China. The second largest gold producer in the world is Australia with an annual production of 270 tonnes, according the US Geological Survey. The majority of Australia’s mine … Continue Reading
Koos Jansen
Everything there is to know about the Chinese gold market and the true size of Chinese private and official gold demand. Start here. This post was updated in late 2017. This post will guide you through all relevant articles that have been published on BullionStar Blogs over the years that elucidate the mechanics of the Chinese (domestic) … Continue Reading
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