Gold demand recovers to its pre-pandemic level

In Q3, the country’s gold demand more than tripled to 12 tons from 3.3 tons a year earlier. Bullion and coin sales rose to 8.5 tons from 2.4 tons, and jewelry sales to 3.5 tons from 0.9 tons, according to a report by the World Gold Council.

Andrew Naylor, Managing Asia-Pacific Director of (excluding China) of WGC, said Vietnam’s economic recovery boosted gold demand in Q3.

In the first nine months of last year, consumption was just 34.5 tons because of pandemic impacts .

On Tuesday, gold price at the state-owned Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) dropped 0.15% to VND67.4 million ($2,712) per tael. A tael is equal to 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces. Jewelry firm DOJI maintained its price at VND67.4 million.

In total, the world’s gold demand amounted to 1,181 tonnes in July-September, up 28% from 922 in the same period in 2021, the WGC said.

Demand for gold was also strong from jewelers and buyers of gold bars and coins, the WGC said in its latest quarterly report, but exchange traded funds (ETFs) storing bullion for investors shrank.

Gold is typically seen as a safe asset for times of uncertainty or turmoil, but many financial investors sold shares in gold-backed ETFs as interest rates rose and pushed up returns on other assets.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate central bank buying and retail investment to remain strong,” Reuters quoted WGC analyst Louise Street as saying.

“We also expect to see jewelery demand continue to perform strongly in some regions such as India and Southeast Asia,” she said.