The demand for jewellery in Vietnam was at 2.6 tonnes, a year-on-year drop of 13%, while demand for bar and coin fell 33% to 7.9 tonnes.
The record gold price environment resulted in weaker gold jewellery demand in ASEAN markets. For Vietnam, currently depreciation exacerbated the rise in international gold prices, helping to explain the larger decline in demand.
According to the report: "Global geopolitical tensions, local political and economic concerns and bullish price expectations buoyed ASEAN investor’s appetite for gold in Q3. Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia all recorded double-digit year-on-year growth. Contrastingly, Vietnam was the outlier: demand slumped as the sharp price rise deterred fresh buying.”
Meanwhile, the total gold demand gained 5% year-on-year to 1,313 tonnes – a record for a third quarter.
“This strength was reflected in the gold price, which reached a series of new record highs during the quarter. The value of demand jumped 35% year on year to exceed US$100 billion for the first time ever.”
The average price for the quarter was 28% higher year-on-year at a record of US$2,474 per ounce.
In the last quarter, the World Gold Council predicted that gold prices would continue to climb due to increasing media attention on the stellar year-to-date returns.
Geopolitical uncertainty, stemming from both an escalation in Middle East tensions and the highly polarised US presidential election, is supporting increased investment interest and lower-than-predicted recycling.
Besides, the shift that is underway in global interest rate policy should promote further interest in gold investment as the opportunity cost of owning gold drops.
