CNI News
13 August 2022
Due to high demand and low supply in the gold market in Myanmar, gold traders and businessmen said that the price of gold has risen.
Currently, the price of gold in Myanmar is rising to the point of reaching more than 2500,000 kyat per tical of Academy Gold Bar.
The increase in the price of gold is due to conditions such as the surge in the demand of gold, the decline in the availability of raw gold and the increase in the domestic dollar price, said U Ohn Myint, the secretary of the Myanmar Gold Industry Association to CNI News.
U Ohn Myint said, “In this season, there is little production of raw gold in our country. It is very little to the point that we can’t even mine for gold. If we can mine, it’s going to lead to water permeation and the collapse of the pit. That’s why there is less supply in gold. Another thing is that stored goods such as beans, sesame, and rice are sold in our country during this season. The amount of money that get from selling goes into buying gold again every year. Buying gold and holding in possession of it entails less supply and high demand. Another thing is that the exchange rate of Myanmar currency and dollar is also currently rising. That’s why the price of gold went up.”
while seeing Myanmar gold bars (GETTY IMAGES)
According to the gold industry, gold buyers are increasingly looking for gold bars to collect. The demand in jewelry is on the decrease and the sales are on the high.
The rising gold prices also had repercussions on small and medium gold shops. There are only purchases in gold bars and the lack of demand in jewelry (e.g. gold rings, necklaces, bracelets) had led some gold shops to come to a standstill since they could not afford to produce more goldware.
Therefore, more and more goldsmiths are becoming unemployed since gold jewelry is not in production anymore, said U Ohn Myint, the secretary of the Myanmar Gold Industry Association.
He said, “Gold prices are rising. However, the grassroots people prioritize reselling to buying. Craftsmen do their job mainly for the basic class to wear. The well-off people would only go for gold bars. That’s why the goldsmiths are facing unemployment,’’ he said to CNI News Agency.
The current gold price is in a situation where it may continue to rise. Controlling this situation depends on the trade market of gold merchants in Yangon and Mandalay, said a gold market analyst Ko Ne Lin Khant to CNI News Agency.
During trading in a gold shop (GETTY IMAGES)
Ko Ne Lin Khant said, “Mainly, we have to look at our traders. If the big traders from Yangon and Mandalay do a lot of trading, we even fell back to near 23 lakhs the other day. So, the merchants in Mandalay sold a lot that time. There, over 24 lakhs came close to 23. It’s mainly traders. The surge in Mandalay gold sales would lead to the decline in the Yangon gold market. There is connection between these two. The traders are also a force to be reckoned with. Because if there are some traders who play the market too much, it would lead to market fluctuations depending on the traders. For them, trading is not 1 part 2 parts. The traders would go in starting from 10 visses, subsequently leading the market to become very volatile. In that kind of situation, the gold price would be more volatile than normal.”
Since Myanmar gold prices change depending on the global gold price and local dollar price, the domestic dollar price may rise even more as a result which would lead the local gold prices to continue to rise as well, the analysts said.
Today in the local gold market, the price of one tical of Academy Gold Bar is 25,500,000 kyats and one US dollar is calculated at 2,700 Myanmar kyats reportedly.
