(Kitco News) – Even as prices set new all-time highs, the latest government and industry data showed that China continued to consume the lion’s share of global gold production.
The China Gold Association (CGA) announced on Friday that the country’s gold consumption was 5.94% higher in the first quarter of 2024 than during the same period in 2023, which they attributed to surging demand among the citizenry for safe haven assets.
Chinese buyers bought 308.91 metric tons of the precious metal in the first three months of the year. The CGA said gold bars and coins represented 34% of the total, as they saw an increase of 26.77% percent to 106.32 tons in Q1.
But while sky-high gold prices made the yellow metal more attractive to Chinese investors, they also made it too expensive for many regular shoppers. Purchases of gold jewelry fell 3% during the quarter to 183.92 tons, or 59.5% of total consumption. The CGA said rising gold prices increased operational risks for precious metal processing and sales companies.
China's domestic gold production also rose 1.16% to 85.96 tons in Q1, while gold production from imported raw materials rose 78% to 53.23 tons, bringing total gold production in the country to 139.18 tons, 21.16% higher than the first quarter of last year.
And on Thursday, the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department announced that China's March net gold imports via Hong Kong up 40% from the previous month.
The world's top gold consumer imported a net 55.836 metric tons of the precious metal in March, compared with 39.826 tons in February, the data showed. Total gold imports from Hong Kong were up 40.2% to 63.499 metric tons.
