the volume of gold consumption in China exceeded the mark of 1,000 tons due to the fact that domestic demand for jewelry and gold bullion increased against the background of very modest indicators of the world market, Rapaport reports with reference to the agency Xinhua.
According to data released last week by the China Gold Association (CGA), Chinese consumption of yellow metal increased by 41.4% year-on-year, reaching 1,176.4 tonnes in 2013, almost three times the volume of gold production China.
This trend indicates that China will overtake India, becoming the world's largest consumer of gold, amid falling global gold prices and concerns about the cancellation of the stimulus measures of the US Federal Reserve.
The increase in gold consumption is due to the growth in demand for gold jewelry and bullion by 42.5% and 56.6%, respectively, to 716.5 tonnes and 375.73 tonnes.
In the second quarter of 2013, global gold prices fell from $ 1,600 to $ 1 400 per ounce, prompting consumers to actively buy yellow metal. This excitement led to the depletion of commodity stocks of Chinese jewelers and led to the emergence of the term "dama", which denotes middle-aged women, who are the main category of buyers of yellow metal.
Chinese women provided a significant part of the growth in gold consumption in 2013, which significantly exceeded 10% recorded in 2012.
However, China's interest in gold was contrary to the trend in the world market, where by the end of 2013, gold prices fell below $ 1,200 per ounce.
This year, growth in gold consumption may slow down due to a weak market forecast, reports Beijing Times referring to analyst Xiao Lei (Xiao Lei).