Mumbai, February 25: Developing countries continued to scramble for gold during 1997, even as the developed countries almost remained away from the yellow metal.According to the World Gold Council, demand for the yellow metal from 21 key gold-consuming markets jumped 9 per cent to 2,935 tonnes. Of these, 13 countries showed growth, two remained flat, while six markets saw contraction in demand.
Demand from developed countries in 1997 was up 1 per cent -- against 2 per cent that prevailed during the entire decade since 1988. Against this, the developing markets' demand for gold in the last decade was up 96 per cent.In percentage terms, India topped the list of key gold-consuming countries.
The country saw demand jump 45 per cent, to 737 tonnes. The official imports were up 45 per cent to 526.5 tonnes, up from 279.8 tonnes in 1996. Turkey was second in the list with demand rising 32 per cent; followed by France (26 per cent), UK (25 per cent) and Mexico (20 per cent).South-east Asian countries reelingunder the financial crisis, saw the largest dip in demand for gold. Thailand topped the list with demand down by 71 per cent, followed by Malaysia (30 per cent), Indonesia (28 per cent), Japan (23 per cent) and South Korea (9 per cent).
Taiwan, however, saw its gold demand up by 15 per cent to 142 tonnes. USA's demand for gold was up 9 per cent to 377 tonnes, followed by China (32 per cent to 202 tonnes). According to the World Gold Council, non-resident Indians brought 397.70 tonnes of gold in 1997 up 56 per cent from 254.9 in 1996. This was followed by purchases of 49.4 tonnes (24.9 tonnes) through special import licences; 48.8 tonnes (NA) by banks and 30.6 tonnes (NA) by channellising agents (OGL). "India's demand for gold in 1997 is best demonstrated by the fact that it equals the combined demand of China, Hongkong, Taiwan and south-east Asia," the council said.
Copyright(c)1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
