Gold prices have surged to record highs at the start of 2026, surpassing $5,000 an ounce on global markets and sending shockwaves through Morocco’s jewelry sector, where traders say the impact is crippling daily business.
In Casablanca and other major cities, jewelers report that rising prices have coincided with a sharp decline in sales. Shop owners say customer traffic has been weakening for years, but the latest price spike has pushed the market into a deeper slowdown.
Traders say most buyers now visit shops only for urgent needs, such as wedding gifts. Demand from customers who once bought gold for personal use or as a form of small-scale savings has largely vanished.
Rather than boosting earnings, higher prices have eroded profit margins, according to professionals in the sector. Reduced purchasing power has left finished jewelry unsold in display cases, while the soaring cost of raw materials has made it increasingly difficult for workshops to operate, particularly smaller ones that rely on frequent stock renewal.
Some goldsmiths say they have temporarily stopped working because they can no longer afford to purchase raw gold at current prices. Idriss El Hazzaz, head of the Moroccan Federation of Goldsmiths, told Hespress AR that many craftsmen are struggling to keep their businesses open as the gap between international and local prices continues to widen.
Others view the surge as part of a broader economic cycle. Mokhtar Kroumi, head of the Traditional Goldsmiths Association in the Casablanca-Settat region, said gold remains the only stable form of money, while paper currencies steadily lose value. He argued that growing interest in gold reflects rising doubts about global monetary systems and the relationship between currency value and political stability.
Despite that perspective, Kroumi acknowledged that rapid and unpredictable price swings are causing serious disruptions in Moroccan markets. He said traders can incur losses within hours when prices jump suddenly, sometimes by as much as 50 dirhams per gram in a single day. In one month alone, prices reportedly rose by 270 dirhams.
The volatility has particularly affected businesses that rely on postdated checks and long-term payment arrangements, fueling disputes between manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and customers.
El Hazzaz warned that the crisis also exposes deeper structural problems. He said Moroccan mining companies do not supply raw gold to local goldsmiths, forcing artisans to depend on alternative sources. That gap, he added, has encouraged smuggling, with illegal traders bringing in gold at inflated prices and earning large profits per kilogram.
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