Gold Bar & Coin Demand Surged 4% in 2018: WGC

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The recently published Gold Demand Trends Report by the World Gold Council (WGC) states that investment demand in gold bars and coins surged higher by 4% in 2018. On the contrary inflows into gold-backed ETFs witnessed notable decline by 67% over the prior year.

The gold bar and coin demand in 2018 totaled 1,090t as compared with 1,045.2t in 2017. The fall in gold prices across most currencies in Q3, coupled with peak equity market volatility in Q4 boosted the investment demand during the second half of 2018. The gold bar sales continued to remain steady at 781.6t. The gold coin demand surged higher by 26% over the previous year to 236t in 2018. Iran and South Africa reported highest jump in coin demand.

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The Chinese bar and coin demand held steady at 304.2t, with demand strengthening in the second half of the year. The demand peaked during Q3 ’18, WGC noted. Meantime, India- the world’s second largest bar and coin market saw its annual demand fall by 4% to 106.2t. The Q4 ’18 demand was the lowest fourth quarter demand in more than a decade. Among South East Asian countries, Indonesia reported healthy 10% surge in demand. The annual demand in Vietnam and Thailand was up by 9% and 7% respectively.

The bar and coin demand in the Middle East region almost doubled to 87.1t in 2018, led by Iran. The Turkish demand collapsed by 28% over the previous year. The European demand too was down by 11% at 171.1t. The U.S. demand, which totaled 28.1t, hit the lowest level since 2007, WGC Gold Demand Trends Report said.