As written about recently in a ZeroHedge article, demand for gold is up BIG TIME! You can read the actual article here: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/physical-gold-investment-5-first-quarter
Essentially, investors are sprinting to gold like never before. What does this tell us? It tells us they are worried supplies might dry up soon and they want as much gold in their portfolios as possible, as soon as possible. We are experiencing the perfect storm - banks failing, political turmoil, inflation, war, border crisis, and more! We have been warning our clients about this moment in time for years now.
Investors bought 302 tons of gold bars and gold coins in Q1 with a value of $18.4 billion. This was 14% above the 5-year average, according to the World Gold Council.
The surge in physical gold investment came even as gold prices reached record levels in many currencies.
According to the World Gold Council, persistently high inflation, geopolitical risks, and concern over contagion in the banking crisis fueled demand for gold.
Investors preferred gold in the form of coins in Q1. Demand for gold coins came in at 96.5 tons, a 14% annual increase. Bar demand was 181.9 tons, a 1% decline year-on-year.
Even with the jump in demand year-on-year, first-quarter gold buying did not match Q4’s record high. Higher gold prices encouraged some profit-taking and there were declines in demand in some markets, particularly India and Europe.
Physical Gold Demand By Region
The banking failure in March lit a fuse under US gold bar and gold coin investors. US bar and coin demand came in at 32 tons. It was the fourth-strongest quarter in the World Gold Council’s data series. Gold bar and coin demand jumped 40% from the fourth quarter of ’22 and charted a 4% year-on-year increase.
The US Mint reported rocketing coin sales of 288,000 ounces in March. It was the biggest monthly total since October 1998, when the Y2K safe-haven rush for gold was in full swing.
Q1 bar and coin investment also soared in China during the first quarter. Demand totaled 66 tons. That was a 34% jump year-on-year and a 7% rise quarter-on-quarter.