WGC sees strong gold demand in Q2

Reuters: Global gold demand is expected to remain strong in the second quarter of 2011, supported by China and India, a senior World Gold Council official said on Tuesday.

In the first quarter of 2011, global gold demand rose 11 percent year-on-year to 981 tonnes powered by investment demand in bars and coins, while jewellery consumption, the single largest segment of demand, rose seven per cent. 

“Clearly we continued to see a very strong dynamic on the buy side of the market,” Marcus Grubb, Managing Director of Investment at the industry-funded World Gold Council, told Reuters.

He said China had imported 200 tonnes of gold in the first three months of 2011, versus 260 tonnes for the whole of 2010. 

“Our sense is that (China’s gold) demand is continuing to be strong in the second quarter,” he said.

Grubb said central banks had bought 129 tonnes of gold in the first-quarter versus about 90 tonnes in the previous year and their purchases were expected to remain steady in 2011.