Strong consumption drives price of gold up

The consumption of gold jewellery in the first half was 368.26 tonnes, an increase of 14.82%; consumption of gold bars and coins was 146.31 tonnes, up 30.12% year-on-year. — China Daily

Beijing: Gold consumption was 554.88 tonnes in China during the first half of this year, seeing a 16.37% increase year-on-year, according to the latest data released by the China Gold Association.

China’s economy has picked up and improved, and the overall national gold consumption has shown a rapid recovery trend, said The Paper.

The consumption of gold jewellery in the first half was 368.26 tonnes, an increase of 14.82%; consumption of gold bars and coins was 146.31 tonnes, up 30.12% year-on-year.

Due to the price of gold remaining at a high level, consumers are more inclined to buy light-gramme products.

Further, the sales growth of gramme-weight pricing products is significantly higher than that of piece pricing products.

Thanks to the sustained and stable growth of residents’ income and the increase in demand for hedging, physical gold investment consumption continues to grow rapidly, said a spokesman of the China Gold Association.

The economic recovery of China and continued gold purchases by the central bank have provided favourable conditions for a significant increase in gold consumption.

Consequently, consumption power has increased, further boosting the demand for products such as gold.

This was in addition to the need for hedging, which has also boosted the consumption of investment gold, said Gao Wei, a manager at Shandong Zhaojin Gold and Silver Refinery Co Ltd. — China Daily/ANN