Additional central banks to buy gold on geopolitical risks, WGC says
Gold's role as a hedge against dedollarisation and geopolitical risk is expected to spur central banks who have been absent from the market to buy the precious metal this year, a World Gold Council (WGC) executive said on Tuesday.
In recent months, central banks from Guatemala, Indonesia and Malaysia have all bought gold, either following a long hiatus or for the first time ever, Shaokai Fan, global head of world banks for the WGC said on Tuesday.
"A phenomenon we've been seeing in the last few months is new central banks, or central banks that have been inactive or absent from the gold market for a long time, entering the gold market," he said.
"I think that might be a trend that will continue into 2026," he said.
Some central banks are also buying gold from small-scale domestic producers to support the local industry and to stop those gold sales going to "bad actors", Fan added without elaborating.
This month, gold prices have plunged by more than a $1 000 per troy ounce to last trade around $4 340, and historical trends suggest it's partly due to margin call-related selling, Fan told Reuters on the sidelines of Minerals Week in Canberra.
The record peak for gold was just shy of $5 600 in late January.
During a gold selloff in October, central banks stocked up on the metal, but it's too early to see if the same phenomenon has occurred with this month's rout, Fan said.
Central bank demand for gold may decline because higher prices not only deter new buying but also increase the weight of existing gold holdings relative to total reserves, he added.
The WGC expects record gold prices to slow purchases by central banks to 850 metric tons this year from 863 tons in 2025, even though their buying remains elevated when compared to the pre-2022 level, the industry group said in January.
According to WGC figures, central bank buying accounted for some 17% of total demand last year.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
CSIR International Convention Centre (CSIR ICC) - the leading conference and events venue in Pretoria/Tshwane.
VISIT SHOWROOM
EIMS is an independent specialised environmental consulting firm offering the full spectrum of environmental management services across all sectors...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
