The Chinese central bank (PBoC) reported unchanged Gold reserves of 72.8 million ounces (2,264 tons) at the end of September, Commerzbank’s commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.

Central bank purchases to remain a key driver of Gold demand

“This means that the PBoC has not purchased any Gold for five consecutive months. In the first four months of the year, the PBoC bought 29 tons of Gold, with only small purchases being made in April. By comparison, a total of 225 tons were purchased last year.”

“Even without major contributions from the Chinese central bank, central bank Gold purchases in the first half of the year totalled 483 tons, according to the World Gold Council, because central banks in other countries, such as India, Turkey and Poland, continued to buy large amounts of Gold.”

“In addition, a significant portion of the purchases could not be attributed to any particular central bank. Central bank purchases are therefore likely to remain a key driver of Gold demand this year, even without major purchases by the PBoC.”