WGC: Spring Festival Witnessed Robust Gold Demand

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The World Gold Council (WGC), based on preliminary data, reported robust gold consumption during the longer-than-usual Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays in 2024.

Citing data released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the gold trade body noted that gold and jewellery sales in the country registered significant surge by 24% year-on-year during the holiday.

The gold retailers witnessed a constant flow of customers during the holiday. The gold consumption in the Shanghai region exceeded $141 million, higher by 14% from the previous year. Several other regions too experienced similar strong growth in jewellery sales. The sales boost was mainly driven by Valentine’s Day gifting demand and longer-than-usual CNY holidays, WGC said.

Looking ahead, WGC believes that macro factors will continue to drive China’s gold demand during the current year. The projected stable gold prices with some upside potential may result in some headwinds for gold jewellery demand in China. The gold jewellery demand looks stable for 2024. Also, it expects solid demand for gold bar and coin, although sales growth may not see the 28% surge witnessed last year.