BullionStar Blogs

Willem Middelkoop: A New Gold Standard in the Making

• 17 Feb 2015 20:03
• Koos Jansen

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Written by Willem Middelkoop “Putin is the biggest gold bug”, was the title of a recent Bloomberg op-ed by Leonid Bershidsky the founding editor of Vedomosti, Russia’s top business daily. He explains why the Russian central bank has accumulated almost 100 tons of gold in the last four months of 2014. It is an acceleration … Continue Reading

Koos Jansen vs. WGC/GFMS/CPM Update

• 17 Feb 2015 07:32
• Koos Jansen

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Recently Thomson Reuters GFMS released its global gold demand figures for 2014 in which they stated Chinese demand was 866 tonnes. I briefly expanded on why I didn’t agree with this number by a humongous margin in my post from January 30 – as Chinese supply was at least 1,834 tonnes. Followed by a post released January … Continue Reading

The IMF’s Gold Depositories – Part 2, Nagpur and Shanghai

• 13 Feb 2015 21:05
• Ronan Manly
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Part 1 of the IMF’s Gold Depositories series explained the legal background as to why the IMF originally made the decision to hold gold at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Bank of England, the Banque de France and the Reserve Bank of India. See Part 1 for details, but as a quick … Continue Reading

SGE Gold Withdrawals 59t in Week 5. What is China Up To?

• 13 Feb 2015 11:29
• Koos Jansen

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The day after the World Gold Council (WGC) released Gold Demand Trends Full Year 2014 in which they audaciously pretend Chinese gold demand last year was 814 tonnes, we can read from the Chinese SGE trade report of week 5 withdrawals from the vaults have been 59 tonnes. Year to date (– February 6) withdrawals … Continue Reading

Is The $/Yen About To Take A Swan Dive?

• 11 Feb 2015 22:41
• Koos Jansen

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When I looked at the chart of the $/Yen I recognized the formation immediately. Here is the current chart of $/Yen. Notice the breakout to the upside of a flat-bottomed triangle. Now where did we see something similar? This is a chart of GLD going back five years. Notice how GLD topped, formed a flat … Continue Reading

The Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed – Part 3

• 9 Feb 2015 22:34
• Ronan Manly
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Part 1 of this series reviewed Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) publications that cover the Fed’s gold storage vaults in Manhattan, and illustrated how the information in these publications has been watered down over time. Part 1 also showed that the number of foreign central bank customers storing gold with the FRBNY has fallen substantially since the late … Continue Reading

Second Thoughts On U.S. Official Gold Reserves Audits

• 9 Feb 2015 18:48
• Koos Jansen

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This post is a sequel to “A First Glance At US Official Gold Reserves Audits”. What is not often covered in the media or blogosphere are the audits of the US official gold reserves stored at the US Mint, which is the custodian for 95 % (7716 tonnes) of the stash – nowadays also referred … Continue Reading

Total SGE Withdrawals 255t In January, Up 4% y/y

• 6 Feb 2015 19:02
• Koos Jansen

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In the last trading week of January another huge quantity of gold left the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE). According to the latest SGE data nearly 54 tonnes were withdrawn in week 4 (January 26 – 30), down 24 % w/w. Year to date a staggering 255 tonnes has been withdrawn, up 4 … Continue Reading

Belgium Denies Repatriating Gold From the UK

• 5 Feb 2015 10:46
• Koos Jansen

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Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad was reporting on Wednesday Belgium will repatriate 200 tonnes of gold from the Bank Of England (BOE). De Tijd is now stating the opposite, quoting the governor of the Belgian Central Bank (NBB) Luc Coene: The repatriation from the UK is not true…. There are other and more effective ways to … Continue Reading

Press Release: the World's First No-Spread Gold Bars!

• 3 Feb 2015 05:16
• BullionStar
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SINGAPORE: Singapore bullion dealer BullionStar Pte Ltd is launching the world’s first physical gold bar traded without any spread between the buy and sell price. BullionStar is offering its customers’ to buy and sell 100 gram gold bars at the exact same price. The obverse of the 100 gram gold bar. The obverse features BullionStar’s … Continue Reading

GFMS Reports Chinese Gold Trade Volume Incorrect By 100%

• 31 Jan 2015 23:23
• Koos Jansen

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Thomson Reuters GFMS, one of the leading consultancy firms regarding precious metals supply and demand data has recently released the GFMS Gold Survey 2014 – Update 2. From the report: Thomson Reuters’ supply and demand data are collected and collated by our team of research analysts based in Australia, China, Europe, India and the USA within … Continue Reading

NY Fed Gold Withdrawals Don’t Match Dutch-German Claims

• 31 Jan 2015 14:44
• Koos Jansen

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From January to December 2014 the Federal Reserve Bank Of New York (FRBNY) has been drained from 176.81 tonnes of physical gold out of the foreign deposit accounts. A drop from 6,195.60 tonnes to 6,018.79 tonnes over 12 months, FRBNY data published on Friday showed. The FRBNY doesn’t disclose how much is withdrawn by which … Continue Reading

BOOM: SGE Withdrawals Week 3, 2015: 71 tonnes!

• 30 Jan 2015 16:57
• Koos Jansen

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As I wrote last time on data from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), in week 2 of 2015 withdrawals from the vaults of the SGE (that equal Chinese wholesale demand) came in extremely high at 70 tonnes; the third highest amount ever. In week 3 (January 19 – 23), though, the Chinese withdrew even more at … Continue Reading

The IMF’s Gold Depositories – Part 1, The Legal Background

• 30 Jan 2015 12:35
• Ronan Manly
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the world’s third largest official sector holder of gold behind the United States and Germany. According to the Fund’s web site, as at October 2014 “the IMF holds around 90.5 million ounces (2,814.1 metric tons) of gold at designated depositories." The IMF’s gold holdings were accumulated between 1946 and … Continue Reading

The Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed – Part 2

• 28 Jan 2015 18:26
• Ronan Manly
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The FRBNY’s Auxiliary Vault As mentioned in Part 1 of Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed, there are two gold vaults at the New York Fed, the main vault and the auxiliary vault. Very little is written anywhere about the FRBNY’s auxiliary vault, or the ‘aux vault’ as it has sometimes been … Continue Reading

Netherlands Did Not Increase Gold Holdings In December

• 27 Jan 2015 14:20
• Koos Jansen

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Many newswires are reporting the Dutch central bank has increased its gold holdings by 10 tonnes in December 2014. However, the increase in holdings is not shown on the balance sheet of the central bank of the Netherlands. Just a moment ago the Dutch central bank (DNB) officially denied the increase of its precious metals holdings. … Continue Reading

2014 India Silver Imports At 7,063 Tonnes, Up 15%

• 26 Jan 2015 11:08
• Koos Jansen

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India’s customs department, the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCIS), just released the QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES for December 2014. According to DGCIS the figures for December are provisional and subject to change, however, I’ve been tracking these quick estimates for months and they are reasonably accurate – compared to... Continue Reading

Booming SGE Withdrawals in Week 2, 2015: 70 Tonnes

• 24 Jan 2015 17:09
• Koos Jansen

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Withdrawals from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) in week 2 of 2015 (12 – 16 January) accounted for an incredible 70 metric tonnes. Aggregated withdrawals in the first two weeks of this year stand at 131 tonnes. Corrected by the volume traded on the Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI), withdrawals in week … Continue Reading

Will Gold Be Part Of A New International Monetary System?

• 23 Jan 2015 10:38
• Koos Jansen

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Anyone who has been paying attention to the global economy the past years can agree with me our central bankers have conducted miserable monetary policy and have taken insufficient measures to fight crises. All major economies have embarked in printing unprecedented quantities of money, but the only thing they bought was time. Quantitative easing on such a scale … Continue Reading

The Keys to the Gold Vaults at the New York Fed – Part 1

• 23 Jan 2015 03:26
• Ronan Manly
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Over time, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) has become increasingly less transparent in sharing information about its Manhattan gold vaults. I use gold vaults in the plural because there are two gold vaults at the New York Fed’s headquarters, namely, the main vault and the auxiliary vault. During the 1970s, New York … Continue Reading

Germany Repatriates 120 Tonnes Of Gold In 2014

• 19 Jan 2015 11:10
• Koos Jansen

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The central bank of Germany, BuBa, has just released the numbers of their gold repatriation activities in 2014. More than expected the Germans shipped home 85 tonnes of gold from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), previously BuBa hinted at withdrawing 30 to 50 tonnes from New York in 2014, from France 35 tonnes … Continue Reading

Guest Post: A Theory On The Swiss Franc

• 17 Jan 2015 01:37
• Koos Jansen

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I have had a theory about markets for as long as I have watched gold. The theory is everything is about gold. Well, maybe not everything but close enough. Which is why the move by the SNB had me look at the charts. And those charts tell me a story that is very different from … Continue Reading

China Continues To Drain Global Gold Inventory

• 16 Jan 2015 08:46
• Koos Jansen

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Withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), the best indicator for Chinese wholesale demand, have been strong in 2014. In total 2,102 tonnes was loaded out from the SGE vaults. Mid 2014 withdrawals were relatively low, then they ramped up in September. In this post we’ll examine where this gold was sourced from. At this … Continue Reading

2015 Chinese Lunar Year Gold Buying At Full Steam

• 15 Jan 2015 12:28
• Koos Jansen

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As I mentioned last week, January is the time of the year for the Chinese to buy golden gifts for their love ones. And that is exactly what they are currently doing en masse, according to the latest data from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE). An astonishing 61 tonnes have been withdrawn from the vaults in … Continue Reading

Wikileaks 1976: PBOC Focused On Gold & SDRs

• 12 Jan 2015 20:36
• Koos Jansen

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Another piece of the puzzle. The next Wikileaks cable is a summary of a meeting that took place in October 1976 between, among others, chairman of the Federal Reserve, Arthur Burns, and a delegation of Chinese bankers from the PBOC. For the record, this was five years after Nixon suspended US dollar convertibility into gold and one month after … Continue Reading

We Can Not Pretend That Gold Is Worth $42.22 Forever

• 10 Jan 2015 18:56
• Koos Jansen

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The lawful owner of the 8,134 tonnes of official gold holdings of the United States is the US Treasury. The Federal Reserve handed over the official gold reserves to the Treasury in 1934 and in return received gold certificates – which, by the way, are not redeemable for gold, only for dollars, but that’s not … Continue Reading

2015 Chinese Lunar Year Gold Buying Frenzy Started

• 9 Jan 2015 17:01
• Koos Jansen

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Every year around January first the Chinese ramp up gold buying at retail level to an unprecedented pace (click, click and click to read about the buying spree last year). The Chinese calendar (Lunar Year) is slightly different than the Western (Gregorian) calendar. In China new year will be celebrated on February 19, 2015, this time to begin the year … Continue Reading

The Turkish Gold Standard, Part 1

• 7 Jan 2015 09:23
• Koos Jansen

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One the most interesting gold markets around, but least talked about, is the Turkish gold market. The Turkish people have a strong tradition that goes back thousands of years to save in physical gold and it’s estimated 5,000 tonnes of gold are owned privately. Additionally, the Turkish central bank (CBRT) has implemented a model in … Continue Reading

Yearly Shanghai Silver Volume Surpasses COMEX Again

• 2 Jan 2015 15:41
• Koos Jansen

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Happy New Year from the BullionStar team! In 2014 silver futures traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) accounted for 2,908,168 tonnes. On the COMEX 2,123,387 tonnes were traded, 37 % less than in Shanghai. First let’s have a look at the latest SGE trade report of week 52 (December 22 -26). Total SGE gold withdrawals was a staggering 58 … Continue Reading

The Netherlands Planned To Introduce New Currency in 2012

• 30 Dec 2014 14:54
• Koos Jansen

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The Netherlands (and likely Germany as well) made concrete plans in 2012 to switch to a new currency in case the euro would crash. Not long after the emergency currency was ready the Dutch began repatriating 122.5 tonnes of gold from New York. This can be very important as there is a possibility the Eurocrisis will ignite again. Monday … Continue Reading

New York Federal Reserve Lost 47t Of Gold In November

• 29 Dec 2014 21:46
• Koos Jansen

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The number we all have been waiting for; The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), which is the custodian for parts of the official gold reserves of 36 nations and the IMF, e.g. The Netherlands and Germany, saw its inventory of foreign gold deposits drop by 47 tonnes in November 2014. Year to date … Continue Reading

Gold Chat About The Chinese Gold Lease Market

• 11 Dec 2014 17:58
• Koos Jansen

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As some of you may have noticed Bron Suchecki, manager at the Perth Mint and publisher of the Goldchat blog, wrote a critical article about my recent post on the Chinese gold lease market. Firstly I would like to thank him for the work he does writing critical articles on blogs in the gold space that have lost touch with … Continue Reading

BullionStar Offers to Pay Employees in Gold & Silver

• 17 Oct 2014 09:54
• BullionStar
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BullionStar is the first employer in Singapore to pay employees in Gold and Silver! View Channel News Asia’s coverage featuring BullionStar’s CEO, Mr. Torgny Persson and Sales Manager Mr. Vincent Tie. The press release can be read here. Continue Reading

Turd Ferguson Interviews Koos Jansen

• 12 Oct 2014 21:46
• Koos Jansen

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Turd Ferguson interviewed me last Thursday (October 9, 2014), a conversation worth sharing because we talked about a lot of subjects, like Chinese gold demand (government demand and non-government demand), the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the PBOC, the SDR, the IMF, the Turkish gold market, the Chinese silver market, etc. There were of course a thousand things I … Continue Reading

China Buys 45t Of Gold Ahead Of Golden Week

• 5 Oct 2014 02:23
• Koos Jansen

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The National Day Golden Week, a one week holiday in China mainland, yes, the Chinese name their holidays golden, began on October 1 this year, so that’s when trading stopped on the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) and Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). This means I only have half a story for you today. The latest withdrawal data from the SGE always … Continue Reading

It's Confirmed: PBOC Doesn't Purchase Gold Through SGE

• 3 Oct 2014 20:52
• Koos Jansen

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Last week I wrote Scotiabank had released an unveiling report on Chinese gold demand, written by Na Liu of CNC Asset Management Ltd.. In the report Na stated what I’ve been publishing for over a year: the amount of gold withdrawn from the vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange equals Chinese wholesale gold demand. This report put a little smile on my … Continue Reading

New York Fed Gold Stock Tumbles 15 Tonnes In August

• 2 Oct 2014 18:05
• Koos Jansen

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Could it be sie Germans? Every month the Federal Reserve bank of New York (FRBNY) publishes the amount of gold it holds in custody for 36 foreign central banks and the IMF. After a significant drop in July of 24 tonnes, 15 tonnes were withdrawn from the vaults in August. Germany is the only country, that I’m aware of, … Continue Reading

Chinese Gold Demand Explosive

• 27 Sept 2014 16:50
• Koos Jansen

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Whilst western media are still under the assumption Chinese gold demand is declining, based on data from the World Gold Council and net gold export from Hong Kong to China mainland, in reality demand is extremely strong. As I’ve previously written, the lower the price of gold will go the more physical gold will be purchased by … Continue Reading

Workings Of The Shanghai International Gold

• 25 Sept 2014 17:28
• Koos Jansen

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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 late 2017. “This event is a major milestone in China’s opening of its financial market to foreign investors. The … Continue Reading

Chinese Gold Demand 41t in Week 37, 1331t YTD

• 20 Sept 2014 07:40
• Koos Jansen

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The Shanghai International Gold Exchange Is Launched! Where to begin. Much has happened this week in the Chinese gold market; on wednesday the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) released multiple rule books written in English describing every detail on the workings of the SGE and its brand new subsidiary the Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI). Finally the world can read everything... Continue Reading

Chinese Gold Demand 39t In Week 36, YTD 1290t

• 12 Sept 2014 15:57
• Koos Jansen

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Robust Chinese gold demand is keeping up its pace. Chinese wholesale demand, measured by withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange vaults, was 39 tonnes in week 36 (September 1 – 5). Year to to date 1290 tonnes has been withdrawn from the SGE vaults. Blue is weekly withdrawals in Kg, Green is withdrawals year to date … Continue Reading

Another Week Of Strong Gold Demand In China

• 7 Sept 2014 02:24
• Koos Jansen

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Silver remains scarce in Shanghai Shanghai Gold After a very strong week from August 18 to 22, in which SGE withdrawals accounted for 46 tonnes, the sequential week was nearly as strong; in between August 25 and 29 withdrawals from the SGE vaults accounted for 42 tonnes. Year to date 1251 tonnes has left the … Continue Reading

Introducing the 2015 Perth Mint Lunar Series Coins

• 3 Sept 2014 08:49
• BullionStar
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The 2015 Australian Lunar Silver Goat is now available in stock for immediate delivery.The Chinese Lunar Calandar The ShengXiao, is known in English as the Chinese Zodiac. The Chinese zodiac is a system that relates each year to an animal according to a repeated 12-year cycle. It is based on the ancient 12-year Chinese Lunar … Continue Reading

Chinese Weekly Gold Demand Highest Since February

• 29 Aug 2014 22:29
• Koos Jansen

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Withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange vaults, which equals Chinese wholesale demand, in week 34 (August 18 to 22) accounted for 46 metric tonnes, the highest weekly amount withdrawn since late February (25 weeks ago). Year to date wholesale demand stands at 1209 tonnes. It’s worth stressing that this number includes gold that is recycled through the SGE. … Continue Reading

BullionStar Founder Torgny Persson on Channel News Asia

• 29 Aug 2014 09:54
• BullionStar
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Mr Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar Pte Ltd gave his views on Channel News Asia 28 August on the reason why gold and silver is valuable and why it is better to own gold than diamonds as the pricing of gold and silver is more transparent. Continue Reading

Chinese Gold Demand 1163 MT YTD

• 25 Aug 2014 17:00
• Koos Jansen

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Withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), which equal Chinese wholesale demand, accounted for 35 metric tonnes in week 33 (August 4 – 8). Up 7.25 % w/w, additionally the largest amount withdrawn in 8 weeks. Year to date 1163 tonnes have been withdrawn, for which I estimate 723 tonnes had to be net imported … Continue Reading

India Imports 2559 MT Silver In 5 Months

• 21 Aug 2014 04:47
• Koos Jansen

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“Rupee" comes from r?pya, a Sanskrit term for silver coin While silver has been widely used as money in history, at the beginning of the 19th century gold became the dominant metal in trade. At the end of the 19th century central banks erupted around the world and began holding gold in reserve to back their currencies, … Continue Reading

East Asia Geared Up For RMB Gold Trading

• 18 Aug 2014 22:57
• Koos Jansen

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Weekly withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), which equals Chinese wholesale demand, have been nearly flat for four weeks in a row. 33 metric tonnes have been withdrawn in week 32 (August 4 – 8), up a modest 4.2 % w/w. Year to date 1,127 tonnes have been withdrawn, annualized 1,831 tonnes. Gold premiums also remained flat, around … Continue Reading

Global Gold Trade Declines In H1 2014

• 14 Aug 2014 17:59
• Koos Jansen

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After having seen unprecedented amounts of physical gold moving across the globe in the aftermath of the goldprice collapse in April 2013, trade has been less robust in the past few months. In 2013 the UK net exported 1424 metric tonnes, Switzerland gross imported 3061 tonnes and gross exported 2777 tonnes, Hong Kong gross imported 2239 tonnes and gross exported … Continue Reading

Buying Gold Using Bitcoin at BullionStar

• 13 Aug 2014 09:53
• BullionStar
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Watch this video to see when David from CoinRepublic visited BullionStar’s bullion retail shop at 45 New Bridge Road in Singapore to buy gold using Bitcoins. Continue Reading