Global Gold Jewelry Consumption Drops 0.8% in Q3 2015
October 29, 15
(IDEX Online News) – Global gold jewelry consumption dipped by just under 1 percent (0.8 percent) in the third quarter of 2015, according to the GFMS Gold Survey: Q3 2015 Review and Outlook, published by Reuters.
Jewelry fabrication posted a 1-percent decline to 550 tons, a 28-percent dip from the third quarter 2013 high of 609 tons. There was concern about poor global demand in the first half of the year, but jewelry consumption began to recover after the price of gold fell through the $1,100/oz. mark in mid-July. Global gold demand rose 7 percent in the third quarter of 2015, however, European jewelry consumption plunged 23 percent on the back of flagging demand in Russia and Turkey.
China endured a sluggish second quarter in 2015, the lowest second quarter recorded since 2011, but gold demand rebounded in the third quarter of the year. Chinese jewelry demand edged up half a percent year-on-year, GFMS said.
Meanwhile, Indian jewelry demand rose 5 percent (on the back of the local gold price dropping in July to its lowest level since August 2011) to 193 tons in the third quarter of 2015, the highest third quarter demand since 2008.
The strength of the US dollar, particularly against a basket of currencies such as the Chinese yuan and the Indian rupee, pushed US gold jewelry imports from those two countries up by 11 percent and 10 percent respectively year-to-date.
A sharp price correction in July, which saw the gold price plunge to a near six-year low at the start of the quarter, was a main factor in the demand increase.