Riddle for you

The West sells it, the East buys it.  What is it?

Richard Dyson writing at the TelegraphUK:
.... Chinese and Indians dash for gold. Gold heads east as western investors sell their stocks - sparking a jewellery and bullion buying frenzy in Asia.  Stocks of physical gold crossed continents in the first half of 2013 as Westerners dumped their holdings and, on the other side of the world, the resulting fall in price sent consumers flocking to jewellers and bullion dealers.

Indian, Chinese, Thai and other Asian consumers flocked to jewellers and bullion dealers to build their holdings.
The trend, disclosed n the latest data from the World Gold Council, a trade organisation established by the gold mining industry, highlights the different ways in which gold is viewed and owned around the globe. The figures below show global demand for the metal in tonnes, in the months April-June 2013.

Jewellery demand was up 37pc over the same period in 2012, reaching the highest level since 2008. Bar and coin investment was also up by a huge 78pc year on year. This purchasing was concentrated in China, India and the Middle East, the WGC said - while selling was largely concentrated in western markets.

In the past decade Western investors piled into gold primarily through the medium of "exchange traded funds" or ETFs. These hugely popular vehicles facilitate quick and cheap trading in gold, because physical stocks of the metal - stored in secure vaults typically in London, New York or Switzerland - are linked to corresponding shares traded on major exchanges like the LSE or NYSE. In 2007 physical gold ETFs represented 800 tonnes of the metal, rising to 3,000 by 2012. Its rapidly rising price, fuelled by the banking, sovereign debt and other crises, drove record inflows.....