World Gold Council: Total Gold Supply Declined 4% in 2020

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Gold Demand Trends Report published by the World Gold Council (WGC) noted that total gold supply declined during the previous year. The higher recycled gold supply was offset by reduced mine output.

According to the gold trade body, the total gold supply registered year-on-year decline by 4% in 2020 to total 4,633.1t, as compared with 4,819.9t in 2019. This is the first annual decline since 2017 and the largest decline since 2013.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in 4% overall decline in gold mine production during the year to 3,400.8t. Region-wise, Asian and CIS production were hit hardest. Country-wise, Peru’s output dipped the most, declining by 28%. The output from Papua New Guinea and Argentina too were down by 27% and 18% respectively during the year. On the contrary, Turkish gold output climbed higher by 21%. The other major producers to record increased mine output were Burkina Faso and Kazakhstan whose outputs surged higher by 19% and 7% respectively.

On the other hand, the record gold prices drove recycled gold supply by 1% to 1,297.4t, thus taking recycling to its highest level since 2012.

The quarterly gold mine production totalled 896.3t in Q4 2020, down by 3% from the year-ago quarter. This is the lowest Q4 mine output since Q4 2015.

The WGC expressed hope that interruptions to mine production on account of pandemic are likely to diminish further in 2021.

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