According to the World Gold Council (WGC), a number of central banks turned net sellers of gold in March as the price of the precious metal soared to the threshold of $2,000/ounce.
Accordingly, Türkiye unexpectedly switched to net selling 15 tons of gold in March after becoming the largest gold buyer in the world gold market in 2022. This is also the first month since November 2021 that Türkiye has net sold gold and reduced the country's gold reserves to 572 tons.
In 2022, Türkiye's gold reserves increased by 148 tons, to a record high.
Also according to WGC, the National Bank of Kazakhstan was also a net seller of gold in March. The bank sold a net 10.5 tons of gold.
Kazakhstan’s central bank has sold a net 19.6 tonnes of gold so far this year, taking its total gold reserves to 332 tonnes, the lowest since August 2018.
China's gold consumption may slow after a five-month buying spree, the WGC estimates.
Seasonal patterns suggest a slowdown in gold consumption in China, which could impact wholesale gold sales in April and May, the WGC report said.
Additionally, rising gold prices and a shift in spending to tourism and other consumer needs could put further pressure on gold.
However, China has continued to be one of the largest buyers of gold since the beginning of the year. In March, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) bought a net 18 tons of gold, the fifth consecutive month of net gold purchases. China's total net gold purchases were 58 tons, bringing the country's gold reserves to 2,068 tons.
On the other hand, India bought a net 3.5 tons, bringing the total amount of net gold purchased in the first quarter to 7.3 tons. Currently, the central bank of India holds 794.6 tons of gold.
Overall, central banks continue to buy more gold to increase their reserves of this precious metal. According to the WGC, the first two months of 2023 saw the strongest gold purchases by central banks since 2010.
Gold continues to be chosen as a safe haven in the global de-dollarization trend.
Central bank gold reserves increased by 52 tonnes in February and by 74 tonnes in January 2023 after increasing by 1,136 tonnes in 2022.
Russia recently revealed that it bought 31 tons of gold between February 2022 and March 2023.
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