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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Juan Blanco, post: 1588113, member: 41665&quot;]I am wondering what effect (if any) Iran&#039;s secretive Gold trade has had on global bullion prices.&nbsp; Since late 2008, it seems Iran has been buying up Gold through numerous gateways, to circumvent sanctions.&nbsp; The Turkey-Iran Gold story isn&#039;t exactly news but hints at a much bigger trade ... distorting/inflating the global bullion market ~+25% or so?&nbsp;&nbsp; Has anyone else been following this story?</p><p><br /></p><p>Throughout this decade, <b>Turkey has been one of the world&#039;s top five buyers of gold bullion.</b>&nbsp; In 2007, Turkey imported 231 metric tonnes (USD$ 5.7 bln) and exported 157.8 m.t. of processed gold, worth $3.7 billion. Of total Gold production in 2007, 265 m.t (~73%) was jewlery (export &amp; domestic; higher valuation) and 73 m.t (20.2%) was investment-grade Gold Coin/Bullion.&nbsp; In Turkey - U.S. Trade Talks in early 2008, State Minister Tuzmen reported Turkish Gold export to the USA was $300 mln, the largest part of their trade w/ the USA.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Of Turkey&#039;s Gold Coin/Bullion Production in 2007, it was estimated&nbsp; ~10 m.t. was exported ($301.5 mln) and 63.2 m.t. ($2 bln) &quot;hoarded.&quot;</b></p><p><b></b><a href="http://www.turkey-now.org/db/Docs/Sector%20Reports/Sector%20Reports%202008/JEWELLERY.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.turkey-now.org/db/Docs/Sector%20Reports/Sector%20Reports%202008/JEWELLERY.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.turkey-now.org/db/Docs/Sector Reports/Sector Reports 2008/JEWELLERY.pdf</a></p><p><br /></p><p>In 2008 Turkey&#039;s total Gold export rose to $5 billion;<b> its largest market no longer the United States ($209 mln, jewelry) </b>, the Turkish Gold export to the USA fell by 1/3rd!&nbsp; Countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan (Iran&#039;s close neighbors, and fronting?) were increasingly imports of Turkish Gold at this time.&nbsp; In 2008, &quot;rising scrap sales meant refineries minted so much bullion in Turkey that it was exported for sale on the international market -- a new trend for the country.&quot;&nbsp; But other weird things were reported, including Gold exports FROM Iran TO Turkey in 2008 and 2009:</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/17/imf-investigate-turkish-treasury-money" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/17/imf-investigate-turkish-treasury-money" rel="nofollow">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/17/imf-investigate-turkish-treasury-money</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Data from the USGS Minerals Report for the Middle East for 2008 (Sept 2010) suggests Iran has been importing/routing &#039;investment Gold&#039; via UAE since 2008 at least.</p><p><a href="http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2008/myb3-sum-2008-middle-east.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2008/myb3-sum-2008-middle-east.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2008/myb3-sum-2008-middle-east.pdf</a></p><p><b>&quot;Until the end of 2008, the UAE gold refineries produced gold that was used entirely by the jewelry market. After 2008, refined gold was often used as an investment product, </b>such as in exchange trade funds and gold futures (Shekhar, 2010) ... The <b>value of gold trade at the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) increased to $29 billion in 2008, which was an increase of 53% </b>compared with a value of $19 billion in 2007. The volume of gold exports in 2008 increased to 371 mt from 287 mt in 2007, or by 29%. <b>The volume of gold imports in 2008 increased to 674 t from 559 t in 2007, which was an increase of 21% </b>(Dubai Multi Commodities Center, 2009).</p><p><br /></p><p>According to the Turkish newspaper <i>Hürriyet Daily News &quot;</i>The export figure {All Exports, to Iran} was about $2 billion in 2008 and 2009, $3 billion in 2010 and $3.6 billion in 2011, according to data from the Ministry of Economy.&quot;&nbsp; It&#039;s not clear was part was Gold, in 2011, Turkey&#039;s <i>official </i>Gold export to Iran was ... LOL ... just $7,500. !!!! Realistically, Turkey&#039;s Gold Export to Iran has grown exponentially in 2009-2012.&nbsp; <b>In 2012, Turkey&#039;s Gold export to Iran rose to an estimated $14.3 bln/ann.</b></p><p><b></b>&quot;The figures show Turkey exported $1.2bn of gold in October alone, bringing exports of the precious metal for the year so far to $11.9bn, 9.5 per cent of the country’s total exports – compared with 0.8 per cent for the same period a year before. Ankara recently acknowledged that Iran was buying gold with the receipts from its gas sales to Turkey and shipping bullion out of the country&quot;</p><p><a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e1b320ba-3b16-11e2-b111-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ENedORzh" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e1b320ba-3b16-11e2-b111-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ENedORzh" rel="nofollow">http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e1b320ba-3b16-11e2-b111-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ENedORzh</a></p><p><br /></p><p>In Summer 2012, most of the Turkey-Iran gold trade routed via UAE: &quot;In August, Turkish government statistics show that the UAE suddenly replaced Iran as Turkey&#039;s chief export market. However, the main Turkish export to the UAE was gold -- $1.9 billion worth in August alone. Dubai has traditionally been the world&#039;s most important economic gateway to Iran.&quot; <a href="http://www.asapvasa.com/site/News/newsdetail/639" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.asapvasa.com/site/News/newsdetail/639" rel="nofollow">http://www.asapvasa.com/site/News/newsdetail/639</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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