by Bahattin Gonultas
ANKARA
Gold bar imports for Turkey have decreased by 66 percent for the first two months of 2014 according to Turkstat, Turkey's statistics authority.
Turkey only imported 16.6 tons of gold bars for the January-February period in 2014 totaling US$596 million compared to the same period last year when the country imported 35.6 tons of gold bars totaling US$1.7 billion in value.
The country's gold exports were also down by 1 percent for the January-February period of this year. While Turkey's gold bar trade decreased overall by 42 percent to US$1.6 billion, data from Turkstat has shown, for the January-February 2014 period.
Furthermore Turkey earned 75 percent less from its gold exports in 2013 totaling $3.3 billion compared with $13.3 billion in 2012.
“Turkey´s gold demand has been very weak since the start of the year due to the high gold prices,” said Alper Kalyoncu, analyst at Istanbul-based Garanti securities.
“One of the main reasons for the reduction in gold imports to Turkey was the positive sentiment in the U.S. economic outlook and the ease of political tensions over Crimea," Kalyoncu continued, adding “if the bullish sentiment about the U.S.´s economy continues, interest rates in the country will go higher and this is negative for gold.”
According to Engin Kilic, Forex trading manager of Turkey-based Destek Securities, however, the increase of the "gold price to $1,390 per ounce, the Turkish lira’s decrease in value against U.S. dollar and the fact that a gram of gold in Turkey’s domestic market has now increased in cost to over US$48 have been causes in the sharp fall in the demand for gold in Turkey’s domestic market."
Kilic added "Turkey´s gold imports would rise if the price of gold dropped under US$1200 per ounce, tensions around Turkey´s geopolitical area do not increase and the Turkish lira´s value against the U.S dollar stays between 2.10-2.20 Turkish lira."
Gold is seen as a traditional investment for many Turks, who are seeking security against the declining value of the Turkish Lira and it is believed that over 5,000 tons of gold is held internally by Turkish residents as a form of personal savings and therefore kept out of the banking system. This has led to the country's government attempting to persuade its citizens to store their gold holdings in the nation's banking system. As if only 20 percent of these personal savings were added back into the Turkish economy, it would amount to a financial resource of around US$36 billion, according to experts.
|
Country
|
Import
(US$-Million)
|
Country
|
Export
(US$-Million)
|
|
UAE
|
306
|
Switzerland
|
723.8
|
|
Switzerland
|
110
|
UAE
|
202.5
|
|
Germany
|
73
|
Canada
|
24.3
|
|
Australia
|
39
|
Egypt
|
16.
|
|
Romania
|
11
|
Germany
|
8.4
|
|
Total
|
595.9 million
|
Total
|
1.008 billion
|
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