Golden Pig gets off to strong start for Q1 record of $17.4BN
18 May '07
3 min read
Industrial demand was up slightly on Q1 2006, 1% higher in tonnage terms and 18% up in dollar terms. Electronics demand, which grew strongly in 2006, recorded a further 2% increase in tonnage compared to Q1 2006. The long term outlook for industrial demand was given a boost by the recent announcement that Nanostellar Inc had devised a new nanoparticle coating, containing gold, for use in the diesel automotive catalytic converter market.
In general the outlook for Q2 is looking very positive with good jewellery demand in most key markets. The Akshaya Thritiya festival, originally considered an auspicious day for starting new ventures, investing or buying in Southern India, but now promoted by WGC as a nationwide goldbuying occasion, was highly successful. Overall prospects for investment continue to be positive with a number of underlying political and economic factors well-aligned and an increasing number of gold investment vehicles available.
Gold supply remained tight during the quarter. A fall in scrap supply as consumers became accustomed to current prices and restrained from selling their jewellery, coupled with further dehedging by mining companies, were the main reasons for a 2%fall from the already constrained figure for Q1 2006. Net central bank selling was close to year earlier levels.
James Burton, CEO of the World Gold Council, said: “This has been a very encouraging quarter. After a 2006 dominated by price volatility, the morestable start to 2007 has clearly encouraged more active jewellery buying, in line with our expectations."
“The recent announcement regarding the development of a new gold nanotechnology product, predicted to reduce noxious emissions by as much as 40 percent more than existing pure-platinum catalysts at equal cost, is very exciting. With the diesel automobile market continuing to grow strongly across the globe, we will watch this new technology's development with great interest.”
marketing@alchempro.com
