Chinese gold imports cut in half

Red and gold all over

Renewed fears about Chinese equity markets after the worst points loss in Shanghai for eight years gave the gold price a lift on Monday.

But the metal continues to trade close to five-year lows after closing at $1,093, up only $7.40 from Friday’s close.

The wild swing on the Shanghai and Senzhen exchanges has wiped more than $3 trillion off the value of listed stocks in less than a month.

The stocks panic and worries about the true extent of China’s economic slowdown so far hasn’t pushed Chinese investors into the safe haven of gold.

Bargain hunters in the world’s second largest gold market are also still on the sidelines despite the availability of cheap metal.

After a strong May, in June China’s net imports of gold via Hong Kong fell by 48% month on month and 8% year on year to the lowest level since August last year according to HK customs data.

Swiss Federal Customs Administration also show a sharp contraction for June although imports have more than trebled from last year’s unusually small shipments.

Year to date shipments are more than 30 tonnes below 2014 levels, the year which saw China lose the top gold importer spot to India.

Chinese gold imports cut in half

Source: FT

Image by ThisParticularGreg

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