30 Jan 2015
India overtakes China as world’s leading gold consumer - GFMS
FXStreet (Mumbai) - India overtook China as the world’s biggest gold consumer in 2014 as global physical demand fell, Gold Fields Mineral Services (GFMS) reported, forecasting that prices that have declined for the last two years would bottom out this year.
Chinese gold demand slid by more than a third last year to a four-year low of 866 tonnes, while the country’s scrap gold supply rose 21 % to an unprecedented 182 tonnes.
Slower economic growth and a crackdown on corruption helped knock Chinese jewellery demand to 608 tonnes, 33 % below the previous year’s “extraordinary” levels.
Physical bar demand fell 53 % to 171 tonnes, a five-year low.
Indian jewellery demand rose 14 % last year to a record 690 tonnes, putting it back ahead of China as the world’s number one jewellery manufacturer.
The drop in buying in China helped drive a 19 % fall in global physical gold demand, with all areas declining except central bank buying, the report said. World jewellery demand fell 11 %.
On the supply side, gold mine production rose 2 % to a record 3,109 tonnes in 2014, though that was offset by an 11 % drop in scrap supply.
Gold mining companies also returned to net hedging last year for only the second time in a decade.
Chinese gold demand slid by more than a third last year to a four-year low of 866 tonnes, while the country’s scrap gold supply rose 21 % to an unprecedented 182 tonnes.
Slower economic growth and a crackdown on corruption helped knock Chinese jewellery demand to 608 tonnes, 33 % below the previous year’s “extraordinary” levels.
Physical bar demand fell 53 % to 171 tonnes, a five-year low.
Indian jewellery demand rose 14 % last year to a record 690 tonnes, putting it back ahead of China as the world’s number one jewellery manufacturer.
The drop in buying in China helped drive a 19 % fall in global physical gold demand, with all areas declining except central bank buying, the report said. World jewellery demand fell 11 %.
On the supply side, gold mine production rose 2 % to a record 3,109 tonnes in 2014, though that was offset by an 11 % drop in scrap supply.
Gold mining companies also returned to net hedging last year for only the second time in a decade.