China’s gold demand fell by nearly a fifth in the first half of 2014 from a year ago as consumer interest in bullion bars and coins waned.
Soaring purchases by retail customers in 2013 helped China overtake India as the world largest gold consumer for the first time. That buying “frenzy”, as the metals consultancy Thomson Reuters GFMS described it, was largely driven by the 28 per cent fall in the gold price last year.
Prices have since firmed, with gold up 8 per cent for the year to date, thanks in part to the increased geopolitical risks, from Russia to the Middle East. The yellow metal fell 1 per cent on Thursday to trade as low as $1,292 a troy ounce.
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