The flow of gold bullion across the world has dramatically reversed twice in less than a year, chasing political fears. The price of electronically traded gold has bubbled up by a modest 8 per cent over the course of 2016, which still leaves it below its 2011 record high.
But like lava rumbling through subsurface channels, physical gold across time zones has washed back and forth, first to Asia, then to America and then back again to the east. This month it may change course again, as US faith in the dollar seems to waver.
From mid-2009 until March of last year, refiners had done a relatively predictable business of melting down 400 oz “good delivery” bars mostly taken out of London vaults and turning them into the higher-purity kilo-denominated bars Asian buyers prefer.