Platinum draws fresh interest from China’s jewelers as gold prices test buyers’ wallets

• Chinese jewelry is increasing in platinum imports due to low gold jewelry sales.

• Gold prices have reached record levels, and Chinese buyers retreated despite their cultural association with gold.

• The low price of platinum makes it an attractive investment, but gold is still dominated.

The industry group said that Chinese jewelry picks up platinum because they are seeking to retreat from a decline in gold jewelry sales.

The increasing gold prices, which amounted to a record higher than $ 3,500 an ounce in April, rose even buyers from China, who have a cultural connection with yellow minerals.

In the first quarter of the year, gold jewelry sales in China increased by approximately 27 % from last year to 134.5 tons, according to the China Golden Society.

Meanwhile, the gold bar and coin increased nearly 30 %, indicating that investors’ demand for the assets of the haven is still strong.

“The jewelry and distributors are trying to save themselves because the sales of gold jewelry is falling on a shelf. They need to find a new jewelry mineral so that they can survive,” said Wimn Deng, the regional head of Asia and the Pacific Investment Council.

China imported 11.5 metric tons of platinum in April, its highest monthly amount in one year.

This demand helped to pay global platinum prices to an increase of about 40 % on an annual basis, with immediate prices less than $ 1,265 an ounce. Instant gold prices increased, an increase of approximately 30 % during the same period.

The price of platinum is about a third of gold, which makes the white precious metal a convincing proposal for Chinese consumers. In China, jewelry is generally made by weight and not on the basis of each piece.

“It cannot be very expensive, otherwise people will not buy it.”

Goldman Sachs wrote on Tuesday that the luxurious platinum gathering lacks basic support. They said that the issues of the metal include the Chinese demand sensitive to the price, the slow demand for cars, and the expectation that there will be no significant decrease in the supply.

Analysts attributed strong gains in the platinum market to the speculation demand and the high price of gold, which keep investors away from trading in the yellow metal.

“This frequency is likely to stem from investors who believe that they were absent from the initial gathering,” Gold Decimrat said, referring to the Golden Board Gathering earlier.

“Instead, attention has turned into other precious metals where investors seek to catch up with the knees,” they wrote.

Deng said that WPIC intensified marketing and public education to place platinum as a precious metal with an investment value and an area to operate it.