Since 2018, both China and Russia have been accelerating their gold hoarding. Germany and Venezuela are considering returning gold. Gold, as an internationally recognized hard currency, is in its own hands against the backdrop of the growing de-dollarization team. Even more important, who sold the gold? People who sell gold, where does the gold come from?
The gold purchased by the big countries refers to physical gold, and it is impossible to obtain gold reserves through financial contracts (such as paper gold). Therefore, the ultimate source of gold purchased by the big countries is the gold-producing countries.
It is worth noting that quite a few of the top ten producing countries are also big gold consumers, such as China and Russia, so even if the output is in the top, they may not choose to export. For example, Russia, as the fifth largest gold reserve country in the world, except for In addition to the domestic production each year, it is necessary to import gold from other countries to meet the growing demand for gold reserves.
Therefore, the main gold exporters are those with low demand and large production, such as South Africa and Australia.
It is worth noting that among the top ten countries with gold reserves in the world, except for China and Russia, the gold reserves have been on the rise recently, but the top four countries have not changed much. The gold reserves of these countries are largely not. The gold is bought directly from the gold producing countries, but is bought in the US market for gold and stored in the vaults of the New York Fed.
For example, after World War II, Germany directly converted the profits from exporting products to the United States into gold and stored it in the vaults of the United States. The gold market in the United States is the largest and most liquid gold market in the world, so it is difficult to tell the source of this gold.
Because the current gold reserves in the United States are largely obtained during World War II, when gold was a currency in circulation, and the Bretton Woods system also ensured the liquidity of gold for a long time. Therefore, before the gold is withdrawn from circulation, these European countries will directly convert the profits obtained into gold and store them in the United States.
Therefore, during the existence of the Bretton Woods system, the gold reserves of the United States declined. The United States was also one of the countries that sold gold at that time.
However, these are based on the gold reserves at the national level. Currently, gold can also be sold through contracts, that is, the paper gold mentioned above. Physical gold delivery requires a certain amount of physical gold inventory to guarantee delivery, but paper gold is a credit contract and is a transaction method for the purpose of earning price differences, so no actual gold inventory is required.
