Russia exports more gold than natural gas

Russia made more money from gold exports than from gas in the past quarter, according to new figures from the central bank and Russian customs. In April and May Exported The country totaled 65.4 tons of gold with a market value of $3.55 billion, while the sale of natural gas during this period yielded only $2.4 billion. In the entire second quarter, the country exported $3.5 billion worth of gas.

It is the first time in almost thirty years that Russia made more money from the sale of gold. Normally, gas generates much more money, but due to the lower energy price and a drop in demand, these revenues have fallen this year. For example, Gazprom exported 21% less natural gas in April and May this year than in the same period last year. At the same time, gold exports increased explosively, as the central bank ended its bond-buying program in March. Shut down. Since then, gold mines have been selling most of their production abroad. In April and May, for example, Russia exported fourteen times as much gold as in the same period last year.

Russia ramps up gold exports

Since the corona crisis, Russia has been a major supplier of gold on the international market. With a production of 310 tons, the country was even the second largest producer of gold in the world last year. In recent years, the gold mining sector has continued to increase its production, with the central bank buying a substantial part of the gold production to expand its reserves.

In March, the central bank stopped buying gold and not much later Relaxed the government has increased its export licenses for gold mines. As a result, the gold mining sector can export more precious metals abroad. And that happened on a large scale, because the precious metal is in short supply due to the corona crisis. Much of the gold Russia is exporting this year will go to Switzerland and the United Kingdom, where large mutual funds and ETFs hold their gold stocks.

Due to the rise in the price of gold, Russia can absorb part of the lost income from natural gas. So far, the country seems to be weathering the corona crisis well, as the Central Bank Reserves have been stable at around $560 and $570 billion since the beginning of this year. Although the country has had to draw on foreign exchange reserves, this is more than compensated by the increase in the value of the gold reserves.

This contribution was made from Geotrendlines