Gold demand drop by 12% - lowest in almost 10 years

     Written by : SMTV24x7 | Fri, May 04, 2018, 01:30 AM

Gold demand drop by 12% - lowest in almost 10 years

Mumbai, May 4: Demand for gold in India for January-March quarter (first quarter) of 2018 was down by 12 percent at 115.6 tonne compared to overall Q1 demand for 2017 due to rising gold prices, exaggerated by a weakening rupee, a World Gold Council statement said here on Thursday.

Total Jewellery demand in India for Q1 2018 was down by 12 percent at 87.7 tonne as compared to Q1 2017 (99.2 tonne).

"Local gold price rises led to the second weakest quarter for jewellery demand in almost 10 years. After the strongest Q4 on record in 2017, Indian jewellery demand saw a sharp downturn in Q1 2018, falling 12 percent year-on-year to 87.7 tonnes," said Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, India, World Gold Council.

"A substantial drop in the number of auspicious wedding days during the period compared with Q1 2017, could be a factor for muted demand as consumers made less wedding-related purchases. Imports were also down 50 per cent year-on-year, in anticipation of an import duty cut in the Union Budget that did not materialise," he added.