Turkey's gold imports fell 18.5 percent year-on-year to 22 tonnes in August but more than doubled over July, the Istanbul Gold Exchange said in its website on Monday. August imports marked the second highest monthly level in 2006.
Dealers said a jewellery fair in Istanbul from August 31 to September 3 prompted a brief rise in physical demand.
"We saw physical demand rising in August, it could be because of the jewellery fair, starting at the end of the month and the dollar's fall against the lira," a dealer said. However, during the fair jewellers complained about a sharp fall in foreign attendees, especially from the United States.
They said volatile prices led wholesalers to postpone their purchases and recent political tensions in the Middle East also discouraged the visitors from travelling overseas. Spot gold prices hit a 26-year high of $730 an ounce in mid-May and prices have fluctuated as much as $20 a day. The dealer also said a recent weakening of the dollar against the lira may have spurred investors to shift from dollars to gold.
Due to a global exodus from emerging markets, the lira lost some 25 percent of its value against the dollar in May and June, trading as low as 1.7600. But since the beginning of July it has pared its losses to trade around 1.4590 to the dollar. Imports in the first eight months slumped by 40 percent year-on-year to 127.7 tonnes, the bourse said. Turkey, one of the world's top gold consumers, imported a record 270 tonnes of bullion in 2005 and dealers and jewellers think this year the imports will remain significantly below that level.
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