Interesting stats from 2016, atomic.
There is a 38% shortfall in annual Au production to meet demand. Imagine the price of lithium, milk or honey if such a large percentage in global shortfall was applied to those commodities.
I surfed about the statista website and came up with this interesting info:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/248991/world-mine-reserves-of-gold-by-country/
Note that again in 2016 China was ranked no. 9 in gold mine reserves at 2,000 tonnes.
But I remember reading in early-Oct the following news release:
https://www.reuters.com/article/chi...12100-tonnes-at-end-2016-xinhua-idUSL4N1MD2NN
That's a difference of 10,000 tonnes. Can western gold analysts get their intel numbers so wrong? I doubt it.
Probably there is some truth in the ongoing speculation that China's gold reserves is closer to 10K than to the reported 1.8K. China just need to blur the definition lines between above ground and in ground Au reserves.
Not surprised if it's a bankers' show and maybe even proudly sponsored by China. Used to be a shock to the system if USD2B or USD4B of Au futures got dumped overnight. Yesterday it was a brazen USD6B. My guess is that before long, USD10B overnight dumping will be commonplace. Where is all that money coming from, though? And who has pockets deep enough to play such massive bets?
Also, notice how easily the DJIA has risen from 20,000 points to 24,000 points? Rocket man, no worry. Thousands of sealed indictments, no worry. QE winding down, no worry. subprime Mark 2 aka nonprime, no worry. R.
