Gold Purchases by World Central Banks Rose 25% in Q3 2017
(November 16, 2017 - by Paul Ploumis)
The Central Bank of Russia added 63 tonnes to its gold reserves during Q3. Year-to-date, the Russian Central Bank has increased its holdings by 164 tonnes
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The ‘Gold Demand Trends Q3 2017’ Quarterly Report published by the World Gold Council (WGC) indicates considerable jump in global gold reserves during the third quarter of the current year. The world central banks boosted their gold purchases during the quarter. The central banks of Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan were the dominant buyers during the three-month period from July to September in 2017, WGC noted.
The global central banks increased their gold reserves, adding another 111 tonnes during Q3 ’17. The central bank gold purchases surged higher by 25% when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2016. The purchases had totaled only 88.8 tonnes in Q3 ’16. The year-to-date purchases totaled 289.6 tonnes. As usual, Russia accounted for the bulk of purchases, followed by Kazakhstan and Turkey.
The Central Bank of Russia added 63 tonnes to its gold reserves during Q3. Year-to-date, the Russian Central Bank has increased its holdings by 164 tonnes, significantly higher when compared to increase of nearly 129 tonnes during the initial nine-month period in 2016. Russia’s gold reserves at the end of Q3 2017 totaled 1,778.9 tonnes, accounting for 17% of total global gold reserves by central banks and others.
The Central Bank of Turkey bought 30.4 tonnes of gold in Q3 this year, indicating strong rise in direct purchasing by the country’s central bank. The country’s gold reserves excluding commercial bank holdings totaled 167.4 tonnes at the end of September. Meantime, Kazakhstan has reported another strong quarter of purchases. The country has continuously increased its gold holdings every month during the past five years. Kazakhstan’s gold purchases totaled 10.3 tonnes during third quarter of 2017.
The other central banks to increase their gold reserves in Q3 were Qatar (3.1 tonnes), Kyrgyz Republic (1.3 tonnes), Indonesia (1.2 tonnes) and Mongolia (0.4 tonnes). On the other hands, minor declines in gold holdings were reported by Germany (-0.4 tonnes), Tajikistan (-1.3 tonnes) and Malaysia (-0.6 tonnes).
The WGC ‘Gold Demand Trends Q3 2017’ report also states that the quarterly gold demand tumbled sharply to 915 tonnes, the lowest since Q3 2009. Global gold investment demand witnessed considerable decline. The growth in ETF holdings dropped significantly by 87%. Meantime, gold bar and coin demand surged higher by 17% in Q3 this year. The global gold jewelry demand declined by 3% upon comparison with the corresponding quarter in 2016.
