AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 129.06 Decreased By ▼ -0.47 (-0.36%)
BOP 6.75 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.05%)
CNERGY 4.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-3.02%)
DCL 8.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-4.36%)
DFML 40.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.87 (-2.09%)
DGKC 80.96 Decreased By ▼ -2.81 (-3.35%)
FCCL 32.77 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFBL 74.43 Decreased By ▼ -1.04 (-1.38%)
FFL 11.74 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (2.35%)
HUBC 109.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.97 (-0.88%)
HUMNL 13.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.81 (-5.56%)
KEL 5.31 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.48%)
KOSM 7.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.68 (-8.1%)
MLCF 38.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.19 (-2.99%)
NBP 63.51 Increased By ▲ 3.22 (5.34%)
OGDC 194.69 Decreased By ▼ -4.97 (-2.49%)
PAEL 25.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.53%)
PIBTL 7.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-3.52%)
PPL 155.45 Decreased By ▼ -2.47 (-1.56%)
PRL 25.79 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.52%)
PTC 17.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.96 (-5.2%)
SEARL 78.65 Decreased By ▼ -3.79 (-4.6%)
TELE 7.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.45 (-5.42%)
TOMCL 33.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.78 (-2.26%)
TPLP 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.66 (-7.28%)
TREET 16.27 Decreased By ▼ -1.20 (-6.87%)
TRG 58.22 Decreased By ▼ -3.10 (-5.06%)
UNITY 27.49 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.22%)
WTL 1.39 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.72%)
BR100 10,445 Increased By 38.5 (0.37%)
BR30 31,189 Decreased By -523.9 (-1.65%)
KSE100 97,798 Increased By 469.8 (0.48%)
KSE30 30,481 Increased By 288.3 (0.95%)

China's gold consumption fell for the first time in three years in 2019, figures released by its industry association showed on Tuesday, as high prices and an economic slowdown hit buying in the world's biggest market for the metal.

China consumed 1,002.8 tonnes of gold in 2019, down 12.9% year-on-year, the China Gold Association said in a statement on its website.

The drop was due to downward pressure on the Chinese economy and rising prices for the metal in the second half of last year, the association said.

China's economic growth cooled to its weakest in nearly 30 years in 2019 during a bruising trade war with the United States, data showed on Jan. 17.

Spot gold prices climbed by 18.3% in the same year as the trade stand-off led to policy easing by major central banks, reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Prices are currently around $1,555 an ounce, after soaring to a near seven-year high of $1,610.90 earlier this month.

The high price "has led investors in solid gold to adopt a 'wait and see' stance, and sales of gold bars by key enterprises and commercial banks have also fallen sharply," the association said.

Gold jewellery consumption in China was down 8.2% to 676.23 tonnes in 2019, while that of gold bars and coins tumbled by 27% to 225.8 tonnes.

"The Chinese economy is not getting better, thus spending sentiment has been souring," said Samson Li, a Hong Kong-based precious metals analyst at Refinitiv GFMS.

"The jewellery sector continues shifting towards products carrying less gold content, because they are cheaper to consumers, have better designs, and offer higher profit margin to sellers."

China, also the number one producer of mined gold, saw its domestic output of the metal fall last year by 5.2% to 380.2 tonnes sliding for a third straight year as resources depleted. Raw material imports rose 6.6%, the association noted.

"The sharp reduction in production of domestic gold mines has resulted in tighter supply ... and an increase in imported gold smelting raw materials, which have become an important supplement to China's production," it said.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

Comments

Comments are closed.