China gold demand soars to 891 tonnes, India's 868 tonnes in 2011: RSBL

By Sreekumar Raghavan
MUMBAI (Commodity Online): India, traditionally , the largest consumer of gold, witnessed a significant drop in demand and consumption in 2011 but China, the largest producer of the yellow metal, witnessed a stunning surge in demand.

The reason for the spike in Chinese imports in recent months, traders say, is that throughout the supply chain the Chinese Gold industry was aggressively building inventory ahead of Lunar New Year, after experience in 2011 when the country ran short, according to an assessment by Mr Prithviraj Kothari, Director, Riddi Siddhi Bullions Ltd (RSBL).

In an interview to Commodity Online, Mr Kothari said that the effect of building of up China gold inventory was stunning. “The 189 tonnes of imports in October and November compares with total imports for the whole of 2009 of just 45 tonnes.”