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Supply and demand statisticsGold Supply and Demand – Q1 2010
Demand for gold is expected to be strong during 2010, driven by growing demand for jewellery in China and India as well as an increase in European and US investment in the context of continued economic instability, sovereign risk and the threat of a ‘double dip’ recession.
Demand in India and China will continue to grow, driven by jewellery demand, in spite of high local currency gold prices. In Q1 2010, India was the strongest performing market as total consumer demand surged 698% to 193.5 tonnes. In China, demand proved resilient; demand increased 11% in Q1 2010 to 105.2 tonnes.
This strong demand is despite high local gold prices, which on May 12 in India increased to Rs 56,032/0z, the highest level for the year, while at the same time in China prices reached an all-time high of RMB8,480/oz, suggesting that consumers in India and China are becoming accustomed to higher gold prices.
Concerns over Greece’s public finances and debt contagion fears in Europe have led to strong buying in particular for gold coins, bars and gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) during May which may show up in the Q2 2010 figures. While momentum in ETF tonnage paused during Q1 2010, gold ETF flows started to rise strongly again in April and May as investors sought less volatile investments in which to protect their funds against economic turmoil. On 20 May, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) held a record 1,200 tonnes, with a value of US$46.88 billion.
Read more about Gold Demand Trends in our detailed report, which also includes commentary on supply.
Press release: Strong gold demand expected for 2010
Data on the supply and demand for gold are compiled by GFMS Ltd. The company provides a number of tables exclusively for the World Gold Council. The following table shows a summary of gold demand. Links to more detailed tables, and to notes and copyright information, are given below. Please note the restrictions on disseminating these data.