There have been rumblings that China may top India as the worlds largest gold consumer. The buzz started at the end of Q1/09, when Chinas consumption of gold jewelry and its gold retail investment beat Indias as Indian investors were actually dishoarding.
Q2/09 results wont be out for another two weeks, but Neil Meader, research director at gold consultancy GFMS, says it wouldnt be surprising to see India back to its usual spot at the top. For the past few years India jewelry consumption has been moving sideways thanks to high gold prices, says Meader. Meanwhile, Chinas consumption been steadily growing. As for Indias dishoarding, Meader said that was very unusual behaviour and would probably not be repeated in future quarters.
While Chinas definitely been narrowing the gap with India as the worlds largest gold consumer, Neader said it would very premature to say that India is any immediate danger of losing its golden status.
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Rumblings of China taking over as top gold consumer premature…
By CB Staff
There have been rumblings that China may top India as the worlds largest gold consumer. The buzz started at the end of Q1/09, when Chinas consumption of gold jewelry and its gold retail investment beat Indias as Indian investors were actually dishoarding.
Q2/09 results wont be out for another two weeks, but Neil Meader, research director at gold consultancy GFMS, says it wouldnt be surprising to see India back to its usual spot at the top. For the past few years India jewelry consumption has been moving sideways thanks to high gold prices, says Meader. Meanwhile, Chinas consumption been steadily growing. As for Indias dishoarding, Meader said that was very unusual behaviour and would probably not be repeated in future quarters.
While Chinas definitely been narrowing the gap with India as the worlds largest gold consumer, Neader said it would very premature to say that India is any immediate danger of losing its golden status.