2016 Australia Lunar Monkey Silver Bullion Coin

This Silver coin celebrates the ninth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. In Chinese culture, those who are born under the influence of this sign are said to be intelligent, quick-witted, optimistic, ambitious and adventurous.

The 2016 Silver Lunar Year of the Monkey coin features an adult monkey sitting on a branch of a peach tree, which is symbolic of lovevity and immortality.

The Australian Lunar Monkey silver coin is available in the following weights:

1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, 5oz, 10oz and 1kg

2016 Silver Lunar Monkey available in 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, 5oz, 10oz and 1kg

The Chinese character for ‘Monkey’ and the inscription ‘Year of the Monkey’ also appears in the design with The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark..

The coin’s obverse depicts Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the year-date, weight, fineness and the monetary denomination.

About the Design:

A pattern of lines forming a circle immediately inside the rim, surrounding a representation of an adult monkey and a young monkey holding a peach, sitting on a branch with leafy foliage and a peach to the side.

The coin includes the following inscriptions ‘Year of the Monkey’, the Pinyin pictograph pronounce ‘hóu’ and meaning monkey and the initials of the designer Ing Ing Jong ‘IJ’.

Keywords:

monkey, silver monkey, lunar monkey, perth mint monkey, bullion monkey, silver australia silver, silver coins, silver bullion

2016 Australia Lunar Monkey Silver Bullion Coin

This Silver coin celebrates the ninth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. In Chinese culture, those who are born under the influence of this sign are said to be intelligent, quick-witted, optimistic, ambitious and adventurous.

The 2016 Silver Lunar Year of the Monkey coin features an adult monkey sitting on a branch of a peach tree, which is symbolic of lovevity and immortality.

The Australian Lunar Monkey silver coin is available in the following weights:

1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, 5oz, 10oz and 1kg

2016 Silver Lunar Monkey available in 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, 5oz, 10oz and 1kg

The Chinese character for ‘Monkey’ and the inscription ‘Year of the Monkey’ also appears in the design with The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark..

The coin’s obverse depicts Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the year-date, weight, fineness and the monetary denomination.

About the Design:

A pattern of lines forming a circle immediately inside the rim, surrounding a representation of an adult monkey and a young monkey holding a peach, sitting on a branch with leafy foliage and a peach to the side.

The coin includes the following inscriptions ‘Year of the Monkey’, the Pinyin pictograph pronounce ‘hóu’ and meaning monkey and the initials of the designer Ing Ing Jong ‘IJ’.

Keywords:

monkey, silver monkey, lunar monkey, perth mint monkey, bullion monkey, silver australia silver, silver coins, silver bullion

Metals Mining News: Chinese Nickel Imports Jump to 6-Year High as Shortage Looms

Chinese Nickel Imports Jump to 6-Year High as Shortage Looms

China imported the most refined nickel in six years in a further sign that the world’s biggest consumer is drawing on global supply. Futures rose 2.4 percent in London.

Inbound shipments of the metal used to produce stainless steel surged 67 percent to 38,545 tons in June from the previous month, the highest since July 2009, and were more than three times the level a year earlier, Chinese customs data show.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are bullish on prices amid prospects for rising Chinese demand. Macquarie Group Ltd. sees a global shortage which may cut inventories further from a record. Stockpiles in London Metal Exchange sheds have already fallen to the lowest in almost two months. Some imports may have been for delivery against the first nickel contract to expire on the Shanghai bourse, said Celia Wang from Tianjin Zhongwei Group’s investment department.


“Huge imports arrived in China from LME warehouses as traders seek profits by delivering against the first settlement of a Shanghai nickel futures contract,” said Wang, the general manager. “Refined nickel imports are expected to remain at a high level into July.”

The Shanghai Futures Exchange started nickel trading in March and the July contract was the first expiry. The bourse is accepting metal from Moscow-based OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the top supplier, for settlement to ease concern about shortages.
Goldman, Citigroup

Prices climbed 2.4 percent to $11,980 a ton in London on Tuesday, the highest level since July 6, before trading at $11,875. Goldman expects rates to increase to $14,000 as the market heads toward a deficit next year, analysts including Yubin Fu wrote in a report dated July 6. Citigroup predicts a 2015 average price of $13,960 and maintains a bullish outlook.

Imports of ferronickel rose more than threefold on year to 62,511 tons, another sign China is seeking foreign supply.

An Indonesian ban on exports of nickel ore at the start of 2014 spurred China to stockpile the material and boost supplies from the Philippines, the only other major source. Inventories of nickel ore in China are now at their lowest since September 2011, according to data from Beijing Custeel E-Commerce Co.

China imported more than 100,000 tons of refined nickel in the first half for the first time since 2009 when buyers took advantage of a slump in demand after the financial crisis.

The Shanghai Stock Market Crash and China Gold Demand

What Does it mean for the future of the gold market?

At present, up to 12 trillion yuan stays in domestic residents' saving accounts. The launch of individual gold investment, therefore, will allow residents to change currency assets into gold assets. At the macro level, it will expand channels for changing savings into investment, thus adjusting the money supply; in the micro aspect, allowing citizens to trade and keep gold can improve social welfare, benefiting both the country and the population.

Moreover, with the dual attributes of common commodity and currency commodity, gold is a desirable instrument for hedging. Therefore, developing gold trade for individuals is practical." – Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor, the People's Bank of China.

Shanghai stocks have fallen over 30% since mid-June. The equivalent in U.S. terms would be for the DJIA to fall 6000 points to the 11,000 level – a crash by any definition. Most of the commentary on this important subject has centered around the potential contagion effect for stock markets in the rest of Asia and beyond. There is another aspect to the crash worth considering though, and that has to do with the effect it will have on Chinese gold demand.

The Chinese people, it is well known, already have a cultural affinity to gold. That attachment just received a shot of adrenaline. Prior to June, trading volumes on the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) were already running 20% higher than the previous year. Now, with crash psychology affecting thinking up and down the spectrum of investors, SGE is reporting volumes off the charts. In early July, Want China Times reported that "SGE posted a record trading volume of 48.33 million grams in a single day in late June." (48.3 metric tonnes, a big number.)



Typically stock market crashes inspire gold demand. In the case of China, where the government and central bank encourage citizen gold ownership as a matter of public policy, that lesson could become enshrined in the national psyche. The important consideration for investors elsewhere around the globe is what effect even stronger gold demand from China will have on the gold price both now and in the future.

Flow of physical metal between buyers and sellers will govern prices in China not paper trades

Ever since 2011 when China's demand began to ratchet up, clients have asked how the price of gold could be stagnant to down under the circumstances. The short answer to that question is that price discovery for gold does not occur in the physical market, but in the multi-trillion dollar leveraged paper trade in London and New York – a volume that dwarfs the physical delivery market. Now China is about to challenge that price discovery mechanism through significant infrastructure changes slated to take effect by the end of the year.

This new construct has as its base China's fundamental understanding and goals with respect to gold as summarized by Peoples Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan in our masthead quote above; its affinity for delivered physical ownership, as opposed to paper-based metal; and, the official measures it has undertaken to make inroads into the international gold market's price discovery mechanism.

To gain a better understanding of how China is likely to affect price discovery in the gold market, let's start with something of interest that surfaced as a result of the recent Shanghai crash. Financial Times reported rumors floating the markets that Goldman Sachs was responsible for manipulating stocks downward. Officials denied those rumors and a spokesman for the exchange stated that "foreign investors with access to the futures market via theQualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program were only permitted to use futures for hedging operations and are not allowed to make directional bets. 

All recent trades by QFIIs complied with regulations." Of course if any manipulation of stocks were to occur, it would be executed in the leveraged futures market where bets can be placed at pennies on the dollar.

Up until I read that quote I was unaware of the strict procedures governing foreign trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), China's only futures trading venue. A further investigation, helped along with some links from Koos Jansen, the Netherlands based expert on China's burgeoning gold market, revealed stringent rules governing trade on the SHFE for domestic participants as well, though not quite as stringent as the rules for foreigners. 

At the heart of those rules, SHFE imposes strict position limitations and margin requirements on traders in order to keep price speculation (or directional bets to use its term) to a minimum. Futures trading in China, clearly is meant to serve as an adjunct to the physical market instead of the other way around as it is in western gold trading centers. 

Hedging is maximized. Speculation is minimized. Leverage is controlled within reasonable parameters.

Link SHFE "Operational Manual for Gold Futures Contract Trading"

As Silver Prices Fall, U.S. Mint’s Silver Bullion Coins Sell Out

Investors still like silver—so much so that the U.S. Mint sold out of its American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins.

The Mint announced the temporary sellout on Tuesday. It said that the U.S. Mint facility at West Point, N.Y., continues to produce the coins and resumption of sales is expected in about two weeks.

The shortages comes at a time when silver futures prices SIU5, +1.49% are falling.On Tuesday, they sank 5% to $14.969 an ounce, the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since 2009. They recovered a bit on Wednesday, though year to date prices have lost more than 3%.

“Silver demand has really come back in the last two weeks, on the break below $16 per ounce,” Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, told MarketWatch.

BullionVault’s Silver Investor Index released Tuesday rose to 56.7 in June from below 50 in May, as the number of private investors buying silver climbed to its highest level in 9 months, while the number of sellers fell to its lowest level in 3 years. The index shows the balance of net buyers over net sellers.

In a note Wednesday, Capital Economics’s Julian Jessop, pointed out that silver has been a “notable casualty of the selloff in commodity markets in the last few days.”

That usually happens when prices of other metals, especially gold but also industrials, are falling, he said. But “assuming metals in general recovery over the remainder of the year, as we expect, silver could now be set to shine.”

China Cuts Interest Rates for Third Time in Six Months as Economy Sputters

China Cuts Interest Rates for Third Time in Six Months as Economy Sputters

China cut interest rates for the third time in six months on Sunday in a bid to lower companies' borrowing costs and stoke a sputtering economy that is headed for its worst year in a quarter of a century.



Analysts welcomed the widely-expected move, but predicted policymakers would relax reserve requirements and cut rates again in the coming months to counter the headwinds facing the world's second-largest economy.



The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website it was lowering its benchmark, one-year lending rate by 25 basis points to 5.1 per cent from May 11. It cut the benchmark deposit rate by the same amount to 2.25 per cent.



"China's economy is still facing relatively big downward pressure," the PBOC said.



"At the same time, the overall level of domestic prices remains low, and real interest rates are still higher than the historical average," it said.



Sunday's rate cut came just days after weaker-than-expected April trade and inflation data, highlighting that China's economy is under persistent pressure from soft demand at home and abroad.



While the PBOC acknowledged the difficulties facing China's economy, it said in its statement accompanying the announcement that it wants to strike a balance between supporting growth and deepening structural reforms.



As part of these reforms, it lifted the ceiling for deposit rates on Sunday to 1.5 times the benchmark level, the biggest increase in the ceiling since it began to liberalise the interest rate system in 2012.

More Easing Ahead



Economists had said it was a matter of when, not if, China eased policy again after economic growth in the first quarter cooled to 7 per cent, a level not seen since the depths of the 2008/09 global financial crisis.



Indeed, some analysts have even said recently that the PBOC had fallen behind the curve by not responding aggressively enough to deteriorating conditions.



With China set to publish more key economic data on Wednesday, including industrial output and investment, the timing of the rate cut could add to worries that figures may disappoint across the board again, as they did in March.



For now, however, some were confident that policymakers can arrest the slide.



"Intensified policy loosening will help effectively halt the economic slowdown," said Xu Hongcai, a senior economist at China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a well-connected think-tank in Beijing.



A cooling property market and slackening growth in manufacturing and investment have weighed on the Chinese economy. Annual growth is widely forecast to sag to 7 per cent this year, down from 7.4 per cent in 2014.



In an attempt to energise activity, the PBOC has now lowered interest rates and relaxed the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) five times in six months, and many economists believe more policy loosening is in store.



This is partly because despite the steady drum roll of policy easing, there are indications it has not benefited the real economy. Some data suggests banks are not passing on lower interest rates to borrowers, and credit is still not flowing to the sectors in most need of the funds.



"The effectiveness of the rate cut won't be very big," said Li Qilin, an economist at Minsheng Securities. "The PBOC has already cut benchmark interest rate by a total of 65 basis points, but borrowing costs have only fallen marginally."

Struggling Banks



Banks are also struggling as the economy founders. Lending has slowed, bad loans are piling up, and profits margins are getting squeezed as China liberalises its interest rate market. Banks' earnings reports last month showed profit growth hit a six-year low in the first quarter.



Given these challenges, the PBOC said it does not expect banks to pay savers the maximum deposit rate allowed by authorities.



And with the prospect that borrowing costs may stay stubbornly elevated, government economists told Reuters earlier this month authorities may ramp up state spending to shore up growth, in the hope that fiscal policy would work where monetary policy hasn't.



But Li Huiyong, an economist at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, cautioned against thinking that lower borrowing costs would not trickle down to businesses and consumers at some point.



"Don't underestimate the cumulative effect of the cuts in interest rates and RRR," Li said. "This won't be the last cut.



"The rate could be lowered to 2 per cent at least, and we expect the economy to gradually stabilise in the coming two quarters."

Chinese Demand for Silver Bullion Bars Halved in 2014

Silver bars weren’t very popular last year — especially in China, where demand fell by half.

Chinese demand for silver bullion bars dropped 52% in 2014 from a year earlier, to 6.2 million ounces, according to the The Silver Institute’s annual World Silver Survey, which was produced by the GFMS team at Thomson Reuters. That was the lowest level since 2010.

“The sharp decline was attributed to the continual implementation of the anticorruption policy, which served a severe blow to the gifting sector, including bars,” according to the survey, which was released Wednesday.

A steep drop in silver prices certainly didn’t help. Silver futures SIN5, +0.79% on Comex fell nearly 20% last year, following a 36% plunge in 2013.

Total global demand for silver bullion bars fell 31% last year to 88.4 million ounces — in value, that’s about a $1.7 billion drop, the survey said.

Andrew Leyland, manager for precious metals demand at Thomson Reuters GFMS, told MarketWatch in an interview that he was surprised to see how weak demand from China actually was.

The government crackdown in gifting and its anticorruption campaign, along with a “softening of economic sentiment through the course of 2014,” impacted bar buying in China, he said. “A lot of luxury goods sectors didn’t have a particularly good year.”

Globally, investment in silver coins and bars fell by 20% last year to 196 million ounces, the survey said.

There was a slowdown in European buying of silver bars and coins, primarily due to an increase in sales tax in Germany that was applied to silver from the beginning of 2014, Leyland said.

He pointed out, however, that the market was coming from a record base year in 2013. Last year’s bar and coin investment figure was still the second highest on record.

And though the world’s silver mine production was up a 12th straight year in 2014 and supplies of the metal were at their highest in about 4 years, the market still saw a supply deficit of 4.9 million ounces last year.

Looking ahead, Leyland expects silver-mine supply to decline and is looking for growth in a number of demand sectors. He forecast an average silver price of $16.50 an ounce for this year.

Prices will see some short-term weakness, but are likely to end the year at more than $17 an ounce, with a couple of years of modest price increases to follow, he said.

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