US and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian territory and Tehran’s retaliatory actions led to mass cancellations of flights in the region. This directly affected one of the world’s main centers of trade gold — Dubai. Supplies of the precious metal from the emirate were blocked for an indefinite period.
Dubai plays a key role in the global gold chain. From here the metal is sent to Switzerland, Hong Kong and India. Due to the high cost and safety requirements, gold is transported exclusively by plane. Ground transport is not used for such cargo.
Almost all airlines have canceled flights, industry sources said. This means that gold will not be transported in the coming days. How severe the impact on global supplies will be will depend on the duration of the transport collapse.
Against this background gold prices have already responded with growth. On Friday, prices rose 1.7% to $5,277 per ounce. This is the maximum since January 30th. Analysts expect that investors will begin to move into defensive assets, which will push quotes even higher. Let us remind you that the historical record was recorded on January 29 – $5,594.
However, experts clarify that the main financial flows will be determined by exchange trading in Shanghai, London and New York. The largest centers – China, India, London, Zurich – are still operating as normal, but if the transport blockade of Dubai drags on, a shortage of physical metal will begin to be felt there too.
Thus, the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East has once again demonstrated the vulnerability of global supply chains. Even such a liquid and protected asset as gold, becomes hostage to military operations if they block the airspace over a key logistics hub.
Source: Reuters
Image: Amr Alfiky
