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2023 Gold Demand Peaks Amid Global Uncertainties
The Global Gold Council's 2023 report unveils the complex dynamics of gold demand. Louise Street, a senior analyst, predicts that ongoing conflicts, trade tensions, and numerous global elections will likely steer investors towards gold.
This year, gold demand, excluding the over-the-counter (OTC) market, fell slightly to 4,448 tons, down 5% from last year. Yet, when including OTC and other sources, demand hit a record high of 4,899 tons, pushing the average annual gold price to its peak for 2023.
Central bank purchases maintained a swift pace, reaching 1,037 tons, the second-highest ever, only 45 tons below last year's record.
Despite strong demand from OTC and central banks, ETFs saw a third year of net outflows, totaling 244 tons, mainly in Europe.
Bar and coin investments dropped by 3%, balancing out with varying market strengths. European demand notably decreased by 59%, while China saw a 28% increase to 280 tons. India, Turkey, and the United States also reported significant rises.
The jewelry sector remained robust despite high prices, with a slight annual increase. China, recovering from COVID-19 lockdowns, saw a 17% rise in demand, contrasting with a 9% fall in India.
Mining output was stable with a 1% growth, and recycling went up by 9%, leading to a 3% increase in overall supply, which was lower than anticipated considering the high gold prices.
Street highlighted central banks' steady demand as a crucial support for the gold market, compensating for other market areas' weakness. She pointed out that geopolitical uncertainties often boost gold demand. With the expected influence of conflicts, trade tensions, and elections in 2024, investors might turn to gold as a safe asset.
Street also noted that central banks frequently mention gold's crisis performance as a purchase rationale, implying that this sector's demand is likely to stay strong.
Source
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Source
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[July 3, 2026 EST]
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🇮🇷🏆🇺🇸 Iran Is a Bigger Defeat Than Vietnam | Foreign Policy
At his second inaugural, U.S. President Donald Trump pronounced his hope “that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country.” By losing his Gulf war, Trump has achieved that goal. His choice to launch a campaign against Iran was encouraged by others, but fully his own. It has led to a reversal that marks a strategic calamity far greater than the U.S. defeat in the Vietnam War.
Defeat in the Iranian war looks, on the surface, nothing like other U.S. military defeats. The speed of the war and its remoteness have lent an air of unreality to the whole endeavor. The White House has not been burned, as it was in 1814; there have not been protests against a nonexistent draft. The absence of substantial U.S. casualties in this conflict also masks the scale of the U.S. defeat. To be sure, the war has been deadly: Thousands of Iranians, ...
According to The Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump reviewed military options for a full-scale war against Iran to “finish the job,” but has decided, for now, not to move forward.
The report says Trump is concerned that renewed military conflict could hurt the chances of a diplomatic resolution and of dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, and that he’s shown willingness to let indirect talks in Qatar run past the August 18 deadline. He is said to be fine with continuing limited strikes on Iranian targets if Tehran violates the current temporary deal - as it already has, repeatedly.
How are those negotiations going?
Not well. It seems JD Vance’s “historic” face-to-face achievement was a one-off. Washington has been quietly downgraded from talking to the Great Satan to negotiating with the Little Satan instead - a senior Qatari official confirmed that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Qatari officials in Doha, but there are currently no high-level U.S.-Iran meetings ...
