Traders are now reportedly facing potentially weeks-long lines for the opportunity to remove gold because of the tremendous demand that has been created as a result of President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on gold kept in the United Kingdom.
An official has stated that all of the available slots at the Bank of England for the withdrawal of gold bars have been taken up.
This is due to the fact that market participants are rushing to send the metal to the United States in order to take advantage of the spike in gold prices in that country.
According to traders, the value of gold has increased in the United States compared to other regions of the world.
This is because merchants are concerned that supply would decrease if Trump’s tariffs, which are both declared and planned, make it more expensive to import the metal.
He pointed out that as a consequence of this, the Bank of England, which holds the second-largest stock of gold in the world, has witnessed a significant increase in the demand for gold withdrawals.
As a leading global custodian of the precious metal, the Bank of England is responsible for the management of more than 400,000 gold bars that are valued at billions of pounds.
The New York Federal Reserve is the only other institution that holds this position.
For the past few days, that haul has been under considerable strain. Commerzbank stated in a report that was released on Friday that since the end of October, gold stockpiles on the United States COMEX exchange, which is a significant market for trading gold, silver, and other metals, had nearly doubled.
According to Ramsden, the Stock of Gold held by the Bank of England has decreased by around 2% since the end of the previous year.
Gold prices have increased over the past several weeks as a result of the asset’s role as a safe-haven, as investors have been concerned about the tariff measures proposed by Trump.
The demand for the metal is also being supported by the war that Russia is currently waging in Ukraine as well as the increased geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
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