Indian gold demand increases 10% in Q3: WGC

Gold demand in the Indian market increased by 10% year-on-year in the third quarter of the 2023 calendar year to total 210.2 tonnes compared to 191.7 tonnes a year ago. The World Gold Council has attributed this to festive shopping and softening prices.

“In the past quarter, as prices softened a bit, more people were waiting to buy gold and bought more bars and coins instead of jewellery,” said the World Gold Council’s India regional CEO Somasundaram P R, the Press Trust of India reported. “Therefore, there was a 20% jump in demand for bars and coins in Q3.”
 
The trend for prioritising purchasing gold bars and coins over jewellery could continue should gold prices rise again. “There is latent demand but prices are stiff,” said Somasundaram P R. “If prices go up, there will be a general caution in buying. People may buy more bars and coins.”

Gold prices have begun to rise slightly and whether or not they continue to do so will play a crucial role in how the gold jewellery industry performs during the remainder of the autumn festive and wedding seasons. If gold prices go down, there could be a significant increase in demand, according to the World Gold Council, ET Bureau reported.