Global gold demand firms up

The recent rise in the gold price is mainly explained by fears of an economic slowdown coupled with inflation, a scenario that would favour the metal. But final demand appears to be there as well.

First sign: in the United States, gold demand from jewellery is at its highest in twelve years, and even exceeds the levels of 2019, the last year before the health crisis. The Metals Focus* analyst behind the study points to American consumers in good financial health, and to the return of weddings, many of which had been postponed.

The second sign concerns Swiss gold exports to China, traditionally an indicator of Chinese consumption of the metal. These came to more than 75 tonnes in October, the highest since March 2018, and are on a rising trend.

source: Swiss customs, Impex database

*Metals Focus is an independent consultancy and a leader in precious metals research. With a team spread across nine countries, it is committed to providing world-class statistics, analysis and forecasts to the global precious metals market.