According to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends report, overall gold jewellery demand rose 6 per cent to 631.9 tonnes from July to September 2015 compared to the corresponding period in 2014.
This was said to represent the strongest third quarter for gold jewellery demand since 2008 – 13 per cent higher than the long-term average – and was attributed to consumers in India, China, the US and the Middle East taking advantage of lower gold prices in July and August.
The Indian market was the greatest contributor to this result, with demand lifting 15 per cent to 211 tonnes. This almost matched the country’s record high of 213 tonnes in the third quarter of 2008 as festival purchases were brought forward to maximise on the price dip. For this reason, however, the report predicted the fourth quarter would be “more muted”.
Chinese demand also increased 4 per cent to 188 tonnes, which was said to be largely due to the successful marketing of China’s 20 August Valentine’s Day as a gold-buying occasion.
Gold jewellery demand in the US increased a “tentative” 2 per cent to 26.2 tonnes, while in the UK, it decreased slightly by 1 per cent to 4.9 tonnes. Across Europe as a whole, demand was said to have “barely changed … [with] a marginal decline”.
Demand in the Middle East, on the other hand, was described as “varied”. Turkey’s gold jewellery demand fell 29 per cent to 12.1 tonnes – the lowest third quarter result in the history of the report – while minor gains offset minor declines in other Middle Eastern regions.
Gold jewellery demand accounted for approximately 56 per cent of global gold demand for the third quarter, which was up 8 per cent to 1,120.9 tonnes.
In addition to jewellery, the report discussed other global gold trends – including investment, central banks, technology and supply – although it did not specifically refer to gold jewellery demand in Australia.
The full report is available on the World Gold Council’s website.
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