As long as supply and demand for physical gold are in rough equilibrium, there is no catalyst for a sudden spike in gold prices, apart from the usual geopolitical flight to quality demand. But, as soon as demand begins to overwhelm supply, then it’s “game on” for significantly higher physical gold prices followed by the toppling of the inverted pyramid of paper gold contracts.

Sberbank CIB, the investment and corporate banking unit of Russia's largest bank Sberbank, plans to supply a total of 20-25 tonnes of gold to India this year, the bank said in a statement on Friday.

Sberbank CIB plans to supply a total of 50-60 tonnes of gold to Asia in 2017

Gold exports to China soared in the run-up to the start of the Lunar New Year, with volumes increasing in December from major suppliers Switzerland and Hong Kong.

More gold was sent from Swiss refiners to the world’s top consumer than in any month since at least January 2014, according to data on the website of the Swiss Federal Customs Administration, while imports from the Asian city-state also increased compared with November.

December purchases from Switzerland rose to 158 tons from 30.6 tons in November, pushing the full-year total to 442.2 tons, up from 288.1 tons in 2015.

You can see now, China has enormously diminished above ground reserves outside of the Chinese domestic market without all investors around the world being fully aware. In my humble opinion this will make the price of gold go up turbo charged next time the West shows interest in the metal.

The consequence is that there are less above ground reserves outside of China for Western investors to buy in a forthcoming bull market, which will elevate the dollar bid per unit gold – in other words the gold price measured in US dollars per troy ounce.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials suspect a lot of black money may have been illegally converted into gold through bullion traders. The ED is also probing the connivance of banks in the process.

The ED collected nationwide data on gold imports in November 2016 which reveals total gold imports that month stood at 66,000 kg. Of this, 25,000 kg sold in Delhi, 15,000 kg in Ahmedabad, 7,300 kg in Hyderabad, 7,000kg in Chennai, 6,200 kg Bangalore, 2,550 kg in Kolkata and 1,250 kg in ..

Imports of gold spiked in November on an increase in purchases that some suspect could be linked to the government’s demonetisation announcement, along with regular wedding season demand. The demonetisation announcement came on November 8 and media reports suggested that there was heavy demand for gold in the immediate aftermath as citizens tried to use old currency notes to buy jewelry.

From the moment Donald J. Trump got elected as the next President of the United States, on November 8, 2016, the price of gold tumbled 8 % in the remainder of the month – from $1,282 USD/oz to $1,178 USD/oz. Usually these cascades in the gold price go hand in hand with physical sell-offs in the West and strong demand Asia. It appears November has been no exception. The volume of physical gold withdrawn from vaults of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) in November accounted for 215 tonnes, the highest amount in ten months. Year to date SGE withdrawals have reached 1,774 tonnes.

With just one month left in the year, Shanghai has withdrawn close to 2,200 tons (28 tons just this last Friday). If you take Chinese and Russian supply out of the equation as they do not export, total global production of gold is roughly 2,400 tons. Shanghai/China have been purchasing nearly all global production of gold over the past several years. This does not account for Indian demand which has historically been another 1,000 tons per year or thereabouts. Nor does it account for the rest of global demand which has been brisk from Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere. Where exactly is/has this excess demand being met with supply? From where is this gold coming from? The obvious answer, and one of common logic says it can only be coming from where it exists (existed), Western vaults!

While paper gold traders can't seem to dump the precious metal fast enough, physical gold demand is soaring around the world. India retail premiums are spiking (amid demonetization), local China premiums soar to a 3-year-high (as capital controls loom), and coin sales from the US Mint have risen for the 4th straight month, accelerating post-election to the highest since July 2015 since Trump's victory at the election.