Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Global gold demand of 4 212 t in 2015 was virtually flat compared with that of 2014, according to the World Gold Council’s (WGC’s) latest Gold Demand Trends report, released on Thursday.
Despite a challenging start to the year, gold demand had rebounded in the second half of 2015 as a result of sustained buying from central banks and strong demand from China and India.
WGC head of member and investor relations John Mulligan told Mining Weekly Online that uncertainty in the Chinese and Indian markets had contributed to significant headwinds in the first quarter of last year, while capital market perceptions had created challenges in the first half of that year.
Global investment demand for the full year grew 8% to 878 t from 815 t in 2014.
The investment case for gold remained strong and, while stock markets had “wobbled”, gold had performed well.
“Bar and coin demand remained steady in 2015.”
The exchange-traded funds market saw a slowdown in outflows to 133 t in 2015, compared with 185 t in 2014.
Overall jewellery demand for the full year was down 3% to 2 415 t, from 2 481 t in the previous year.
“Following a slower start to the year, the third and fourth quarters combined produced the strongest second-half-year total for gold jewellery in 11 years,” Mulligan pointed out.
“Central Bank demand for the full year saw a small uptick from 584 t in 2014 to 588 t as the need for further diversification was reinforced by a tumbling oil price and reduced confidence in the global economy,” he said.
Looking ahead, physical demand would continue to be supported by strong central bank purchases and continued buying of jewellery, bars and coins by households across the world, led by India and China.