Japan gold exports in the 10 months ended October totaled 95.6 metric tons

Gold shipments from Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, are at the highest level since at least 1985 as individuals who purchased jewelry more than 20 years ago are selling it amid record prices. Shipments of bullion in the 10 months ended October totaled 95.6 metric tons, according to Takahiro Morita, the Japan director of theWorld Gold Council, who cited Ministry of Finance customs data. The previous high was 95.5 tons in 2008. Gold is set for an 11th year of gains as central banks join investors in purchasing bullion to diversify their assets. Japan’s largest bullion retailer, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., said it bought 40 percent more gold bars and jewelry from individuals in the nine-month period ending September. Gold investmentjumped 33 percent to 468.1 tons in the third quarter from a year earlier as bar and coin demand in Europe more than doubled to the most since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the London-based council, a producer-funded group. Purchases by central banks, which are adding to reserves for the first time in a generation, may reach 450 tons this year, Marcus Grubb, managing director ofinvestment research at the council, said Nov. 25. Central banks and government institutions bought 142 tons last year, IMF data show. “Japan is the only country that exports gold without being a major producer,” said Bruce Ikemizu, the manager of Standard Bank Plc.’s Tokyo branch.

“Countries that are buying up gold are places where real interest rates are negative,” said Itsuo Toshima, an independent analyst who has researched global markets including gold for about 30 years and was formerly the Japan director of the World Gold Council. In China, the biggest gold jewelry consumer, inflation is eroding the value of bank deposits, prompting investors to seek returns in bullion. Gold makes up 1.6 percent of China’s foreign-currency reserves, compared with the 11 percent world average, Nicholas Brooks of ETF Securities said Dec. 2. “Central banks are continuing to buy gold exchange-traded funds after concerns arose about the creditworthiness of euro- zone nations,” Koichiro Kamei, managing director at independent research company Market Strategy Institute, said in an interview.

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