Author: Paul Ploumis24 Feb 2015 Last updated at 07:15:54 GMT

ANKARA (Scrap Monster): The gold holding by Turkey has dropped for the second straight month in January. The country slashed its gold holdings to 514.83 tonnes during the month, falling sharply by 14.227 tonnes. This includes bullion holdings with the Central Bank and gold deposits with commercial banks. The data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that Turkey has the 12th largest gold reserves among world countries.

Meantime, gold imports by Turkey during January this year had plunged nearly 80% from Dec ’14 levels to touch 2.26 tonnes. When compared with the imports during the same month in 2014, the Jan ’15 gold imports were down by 60%. The yearly gold imports by the country during 2014 had dropped 57% over the year to total 130.9 tonnes. The domestic gold consumption trends are expected to remain quiet. At the same time, ongoing tensions in Iraq and weakening Russian economy could keep jewellery exports from the country subdued.

The IMF data shows that the Eurozone Central Banks have lifted gold holdings by 7.437 tonnes to 10,791.885 tonnes during the month of January alone.

Elsewhere, Kazakhstan increased their gold reserves to 193.5 tonnes in Jan ’15 from 191.8 tonnes during the previous month. This is the 28th straight month that the country has lifted its gold holdings. The country has more than doubled its gold holdings over the past three years. Ukraine too boosted their gold reserves to 23.9 tonnes from 23.6 tonnes a month ago. On the other hand, Russia dropped their holdings for the first time since March last year. The country’s gold holdings now stand at 1,207.7 tonnes.