China’s Gold Imports Hit Record

Gold Flows East as Bars Recast for Chinese Defying Slump ........Bloomberg

Gold’s biggest slump in three decades has been a boon for MKS (Switzerland) SA’s PAMP refinery near the Italian border in Castel San Pietro, whose bullion sales to China surged to a record as demand rose for coins, bars and jewelry.

As prices plunged 28 percent in 2013, investors dumped a record 869.1 metric tons from gold-backed funds traded mostly in the U.S. and Europe. Much of that metal is ending up in Asia, where companies such as The Brink’s (BCO) Co., UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG are opening new vaults.
China’s expanding wealth has made the country the world’s largest buyer, surpassing India, as imports reached an all-time high.

Gold shipments to China from Hong Kong rose to a record in 2013 as bullion’s slump attracted buyers in the world’s second-largest economy.

Purchases that climbed by 51 percent in December before the Lunar New Year holiday starting Jan. 31 took net imports for the year to 1,108.8 metric tons, a 33 percent gain from 2012, according to calculations by Bloomberg News based on data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. The net figure deducts flows from China into Hong Kong.