Strong Jewellery Sales Boost India Gold Imports in 2010.

MUMBAI : Strong gold jewellery sales by India, the largest consumer of the yellow metal in the world, has helped boost gold imports to the country in 2010, says a report from the World Gold Council (WGC).

According to WGC statistics, gold imports by India, the largest consumer in 2010, have exceeded 2009 levels as consumers boost jewelley purchases.

Imports totaled 624 metric tons by the end of the third quarter, compared with 559 tons in all of 2009, according to data released in a report by WGC. India bought 214 tons in the third quarter, up from 176 tons a year earlier, it said.

Jewelry demand in India surged 36 percent in the third quarter even as gold prices gained. Consumers in India purchased 184.5 tons of gold in the third-quarter for jewelry, up from 135.2 tons a year ago, the report said. Total gold demand in India rose 28 percent in the period.

In the last eight years from 2000, gold imports by India every year have been between 400-800 tons. In 2008, India's gold imports dipped by 45 percent to touch 450 tons; Indians consumed 501.6 tons in 2008. Global economic meltdown, uncertainty in stocks and commodities markets and volatility in gold prices had a major impact on India's gold imports in 2008.

India imported 722 tons of bullion in 2007, less than the 1,000 tons estimated by the WGC at the beginning of the year.

Gold imports in 2006 were 715 tons, which grew only 4 percent from 1997, while prices soared 128 percent in the same period, according to a WGC data.

Source : commodityonline.com