Introduction:
Drawing on data from Metals Focus, the leading reporting and research firm for the global gold industry, and insights from industry experts, this report will provide key insights on a range of topics, including above-ground gold figures for 2022, gold production, gold recycling and central bank demand.
Before getting to the main contents of the report, a look at gold price movements throughout the year will be helpful in understanding the monthly variation in the subsequent data. Exceptional market conditions prevail as gold prices are currently at record highs of 2040 dollar ounces, but 2022 was perhaps the last year of "normal" demand. As 2023 data will be available early this summer, our new 2023 report summary will be published in July.
Source: SD Bullion
Gold production:
Turkey recorded a production of 31 tonnes in 2022, even though it covers only a small fraction of the world. However, in the same year, Turkey's gold imports amounted to just over 379 tonnes and local production was only enough to meet less than 10% of demand. According to the main published data for 2023, demand exceeded 380 tonnes and quotas were imposed and the sector is already facing various problems.
Globally, global gold production in 2022 was just over 3627 tonnes, a marginal 1% increase on 2021. The world's top producer was China with 375 tonnes in 2022, the same as in 2021. Similar to Turkey, China has been a net importer of gold for most of the year, as local production has not been able to meet Chinese gold demand. Just like the Istanbul Gold Exchange in Turkey, all transactions are carried out through the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
As for net annual gold exporters, Australia produced 314 tonnes, Canada 194.5 tonnes and Indonesia 124.9 tonnes in 2022. Due to rising global gold ounce prices, mines with higher gold production costs have also increased their activities this year, and therefore annual production volumes are expected to increase. This, of course, is a development that will increase the profits of producing companies and countries, provided that the demand for gold continues.
The table below, compiled by Metals Focus, summarises global gold production volumes by country, as well as average gold production costs per ounce by continent:
Gold recycling:
Despite high gold prices in Turkey, gold recycling (also categorised as scrap) in 2022 was 54 tonnes. This figure followed the general global trends with an increase of only 2 tonnes compared to 52 tonnes in 2021. Turkey's record recycling year in the last 10 years was 2015, with scrap recycling approaching 166 tonnes. Unlike other countries, Turkey has a strong refining sector in its own domestic market, and is refining its own scrap, which will be joined this year by Aleks Metal Refinery.
Globally, the gold recycling amount for 2022 is over 1140 tonnes, a marginal increase of 4 tonnes compared to last year. The world's leading scrap outflow countries are again cultures and countries with gold consumption habits, with China, India, Germany, USA, Turkey and Italy leading the way. India saw the largest year-on-year increase, up 25% on 2021 to close to 98 tonnes, and the USA, another major market, recorded an 8% decline to just under 69 tonnes in 2022.
Detailed data can be found below in the region-based table prepared by Metals Focus:
Central bank request:
Central bank demand, usually categorised under the "official sector", rose by a massive 141% year-on-year globally in 2022, reaching record levels and totalling 1083 tonnes. This high demand continued into 2023 and was also a major factor in the current global record ounce levels in 2024.
The increase in demand in 2022 was dominated by 2 countries, with the Bank of China leading in gross purchases with 120 tonnes and the CBRT being the largest buyer with 147 tonnes. Due to a variety of factors, ranging from geopolitical risks to the US dollar looking less and less reliable as a reserve currency, central bank gold demand worldwide has seen significant increases.
However, if we move from non-consuming to producing countries, gross sales also fell by 26% y-o-y to 177 tonnes, a 4-year low. Kazakhstan (78 tonnes sold in 2022) and Uzbekistan (27 tonnes sold in 2022), two major producing countries, saw a decline in their central bank reserves.
As for global reserves, the country with the most gold in the world is the USA with 8134 tonnes, followed by Germany with 3335 tonnes. China, on the other hand, has increased its 2022 tonnes reserves in 2011 to 2264 tonnes in the light of the current preliminary data with its record purchases.
In Turkey, the CBRT bought 148 tonnes of gold in 2022 and increased its total reserves to 542 tonnes in 2022. In 2022 and 2023, it continued its strong purchases and increased its reserves to over 726 tonnes by the end of 2023.
The global gold market is becoming more dynamic and central banks are becoming more active due to geopolitical and other global risks. In an environment where scrap and recycling will increase in the gold sector, which is getting stronger due to economic and political conditions both globally and in Turkey, the importance of refineries will also increase. As the demand for gold and its prices are getting stronger and stronger, Turkey has a serious monetary power and capital both as a personal investor and as a state. With the compilation of all these developments and the 2023 data, it is planned to compile a detailed report summary of the last year in the next report
