The demand for investment gold in the form of coins and bars increased in the first quarter of this year by 36% year on year and amounted to 339.5 tons. Thus, this period became the best in demand since the fourth quarter of 2016. Then this figure was 380 tons. Such data were published in a recent report of the World Gold Council.
However, the overall demand for physical gold fell in the first quarter by 23% to 815.7 tons. This decline is primarily due to capital outflows from "gold" ETF-funds, the shares of which are backed by a physical precious metal. According to the WGC, 177.9 tonnes were withdrawn from ETF funds in the first quarter.
The positive news was an increase in sales in the jewelry sector, which showed an increase in demand by 52% to 477.4 tons in the reporting period.In India, this indicator increased by 39% to 73.9 tons, and in China, sales grew even by 212% and amounted to 61.3 tons. Such a sharp revival in the country's jewelry market is confirmed by the data on imports of the yellow precious metal for the first quarter of this year, which were also recently published to the general public.
The gold market has also received support from central banks around the world. According to the WGC, their total reserves increased by 95.5 tons during the reporting period. The largest buyer during this time was the Central Bank of Hungary with a volume of 63 tons. At the same time, Turkey's gold reserves decreased by 31.5 tons.
The total demand for gold in China from January to March this year amounted to 288.2 tons - an increase of as much as 93.9% year on year. However, the production of the yellow precious metal in the country during this period decreased by 9.92% and amounted to 74.44 tons.
The share of the tech sector in the gold market also showed significant growth. The demand for precious metals on its part increased by 11% in annual terms to the level of 81.2 tons.