Watch Live: Second House Hearing on IRS Scandal

Check Out Today’s Hot Posts on TheBlaze Blog!

Business

Guess Which Country Has Been Working Overtime Reinforcing Its Gold Holdings

Jan. 10, 2013 4:50pm Becket Adams

Not to be outdone by their Russian neighbors, who’ve been boosting their gold holdings at a breakneck pace, it looks like the Chinese have really stepped up their “grab all the gold” game.

China imported 90.8 tons of gold in Nov. 2012, double the amount imported in October (47 tons), bringing its annual total (excluding December) to 720 tons of gold. Yes, 720 tons of gold.

“If last year is any indication,” writes Zero Hedge, “the December total will be roughly the same amount, and will bring the total 2012 import amount to over 800 tons, double the 392.6 tons imported in 2011.”

China Really Steps Up Its Gold Game in Nov. 2012

Courtesy ZH

If Zero Hedge is correct, and the total amount imported come in at 800 tons of gold, there’s this to consider:

… in one year China, whose official reserve holdings are still a negligible 1054 (and realistically at least double, if not triple, this number), will have imported more gold than the official holdings of Japan, last pegged at 765.2 tons (and well more than the ECB’s 502.1 tons).

Here’s a list of the world’s gold holdings:

Courtesy ZH

While China purchased roughly $39 billion worth of gold in 2012, as the Hedge points out, it only purchased $10 billion U.S. Treasurys.

“Finally, let’s not forget that recently China surpassed South Africa as the world’s biggest producer of gold with annual output in the hundreds of tons,” the report concludes.

“Add the net imports number to this total (which amounted to some 281 tons in 2012 according to Bloomberg) and one can get a sense of how big China’s appetite for hard assets … has become,” it adds.

Whatever, China.

Our yet-to-be-minted $1 trillion-dollar coin will take on your gold holdings any day.

USA! USA! USA!

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Fueautured image courtesy China.org.cn

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (65)

ObserverOnTheHill
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 11:12am
Legislatures in Illinois have introduced the “Precious Metal Purchasing Act.”

Critics argue the act violates certain liberties by enforcing new rules, regulations, and even fees for precious metal purchasers.

According to Gary North with the Tea Party Economist, the new bill means precious metal purchasers would be required to obtain proof of ownership, create a record of the sale, and verify the identity of the seller — or face civil penalties.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
weareskrewed
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 10:45pm
So… I know things don’t work like they used to as far as the stock market, gold, oil, etc… go (e.i manipulation) but if China is buying all this gold; why has the price of gold been sitting in the $1650..00/ oz range for the past year while food and other necessities keep going up ??? I’m so sick of hearing all these gold bug pundits telling us to BUY GOLD, BUY GOLD, HURRY; before it’s too late !!! So much for a hedge against inflation

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
engineer46
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:24pm
Hey The-Monk. Don’t try to do math and act impressive. Gold is measured in troy ounces not Avoirdupois ounces.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
engineer46
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:19pm
Decided to sign up to comment. The math on previous comments should probably be checked as the price of gold is troy oz. not avd. oz. 1 troy oz. = 1.097142857avd. Therefore there are approximately 14.583 troy oz. in a avd. pound. So be careful when you by gold that you are getting troy ounces and not Avoirdupois ounces. I hate when fools that don’t know math and science try to act impressive that mislead others who know even less.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
youshuthehellup
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:04am
the other day my whole family laughed hysterically at what a great payback it was when the drudge report said democrats did not know why they had smaller pay checks!(LOL) hahahahahahahahaha what air heads: “obama! obama! obama”…?!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
txannie
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 10:37pm
You can’t eat gold. Load up on lead to protect your stock and crops. Get gold and silver if you can, but you better be able to protect your food stuffs.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
TexBork
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 9:01pm
“Guess Which Country Has Been Working Overtime Reinforcing Its Gold Holdings” Um, not us? We are looking at making the ultimate statement in inflation with a single Trillion Dollar coin? (Actually, mine’s in the washer right now. I left it in my other pants…)

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
CommonSenseTalk
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 8:18pm
People, you do not need the government to go out and buy silver and gold. Maybe stop buying all this crap we don’t need and buy silver, gold, food, guns. Did you see people in 1777 lining up asking the government for food stamps? Obama phone? These people gave up their lives for freedom. 80+% of Americans will not even vote 1 time every 4 years for freedom. We expect our military to die for our freedom, but we cannot even take 1 hour to look at a person to see if they will fight for our rights or take them. Most Americans vote for who makes the best 30 second spot, and can tell the best lies. If they tell the truth, Americans will vote them out of office. Then complain about how bad congress is.

Lets start with the people as the problem, then understand the truth. The truth will hurt every American one way or another. You don’t vote people out of office because they tell you the truth. If we start there we may have a chance. P.S. you don’t vote on one issue, like right to life, tax the rich, health care, etc. Hundreds of issues and who is going to fix them should be looked at.

Name me one thing that the government has done and fixed without any other problems? The damage from the problems are easy compared to the damage from the government solution.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.