Chinese Wholesale Gold Demand Surged in Feb

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The World Gold Council (WGC) published China Gold Market Commentary for the month of February this year. The country’s wholesale gold demand remained strong during the month. Also, gold reserves rose further from the prior month.

According to Ray Jia, Senior Analyst, China World Gold Council, the Shanghai Gold Price Benchmark PM (SHAUPM) in RMB recorded marginal dip by 1%, mainly on account of the RMB’s depreciation against the dollar. The Shanghai-London gold price premium edged higher, triggered by rising gold demand during the month. Meantime, the LBMA Gold Price AM in USD fell sharply by 5% in February 2023, Jia noted.

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The gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) totalled 169t in February this year, higher by 30t from the prior month and 76t from the corresponding month a year before, WGC report said.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) added 25t of gold to its reserves, thus taking the total central bank gold reserves to 2,050t by the end of the month. Meantime, the gold ETFs witnessed mild outflow of $45 million. The ETF holdings stood at 47.4t at the end of the month.

WGC expects gold withdrawals from the SGE to remain strong in March, but witness slowdown in April.