By Amy Lv and Joe Cash
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s gold consumption in the first three quarters of 2024 slid 11.18% from the same period a year ago to 741.732 metric tons as high prices dented buying interest for jewellery products, the state-backed gold association said on Monday.
Gold jewellery buying, which accounts for 53.9% of total consumption, slipped during January to September to 400.038 tons, down 27.53% from the prior year period, data from the China Gold Association showed.
“Gold prices have been on the rise over the first three quarters, affecting jewellery buying, although the rapid development of new e-commerce models such as live streaming and instant retail has driven the growth of small gram gold jewelry consumption,” the association said.
The most-active gold contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped by 23.5% from the beginning of the year to 596.72 yuan ($83.69) a gram on Sept. 30.
The contract climbed over 600 yuan a gram to hit a record at 630.44 yuan a gram on Oct. 23 amid the intensified conflict in the Middle East.
Purchases of gold bars and coins, which usually reflect safe-haven demand, climbed by 27.14% to 282.721 tons thanks to “relatively low premium”, it said.
OUTPUT
China’s gold output from domestically produced raw materials dipped by 1.17% to 268.068 tons in the first three quarters of the year.
“The domestic industry is in the middle of old-new capacity conversion with the newly built large mines yet to form new production capacity, so output did not pose the expected increase,” the association said.
“But in the long run, the future (of domestic gold output) is promising despite the temporary fall.”
Output of gold from imported raw materials increased 15.51% on the year to 111.207 tons, bringing the total gold output in China from January to September to 379.275 tons, an annual rise of 3.2%.
($1 = 7.1303 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Joe Cash; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christian Schmollinger)
