GST Fears Drive Up India's Q2 Gold Jewellery Demand
Solitaire International|August 2017

GST Fears Drive Up India’s Q2 Gold Jewellery Demand India drove global Q2 jewellery demand growth almost single-handedly, according to the World Gold Council’s (WGC’s) latest Gold Demand Trends report. Indian gold jewellery demand shot up 41% to 126.7 tonnes compared with just 89.8 tonnes in Q2 2016.

GST Fears Drive Up India's Q2 Gold Jewellery Demand

The WGC said the strong recovery had been widely expected after exceptional import figures were reported, hitting an all-time high of 104.6 tonnes in May as the market stockpiled gold ahead of the June GST rate announcement. Expecting a punitive GST rate, jewellers and consumers alike crammed their purchases into the first two months of the quarter, slowing down once the government confirmed that a 3% rate would be applied. Another brief flurry at the end of June, before the roll out of GST in July, pushed local prices to a premium of around $3-4/oz above the international price, although some traders reported paying a premium as high as $10/oz in some instances.

Demand was boosted by festivals, weddings and improved rural sentiment. Akshaya Tritiya – a key gold-buying festival in the Hindu calendar – boosted gold jewellery demand in the usual way. But the timing of the festival this year, falling as it did over a weekend and coinciding with a dip in the gold price, proved particularly encouraging. Estimates suggest that Akshaya Tritiya-related sales were up by around 30% year-over-year.

This story is from the August 2017 edition of Solitaire International.

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This story is from the August 2017 edition of Solitaire International.

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