Gold bars lose their shine in third quarter

Demand for gold coins and bars has fallen by a third, year on year, from a record high in 2011, according to the World Gold Council.

In its third quarter report on the gold market, the Council stated demand for gold rose 10% overall from Q2 to reach $57.6bn, but was 11% lower than the record level of 2011, due to a drop in bar and coin purchases. Demand for gold bars and coins fell 30% between Q3 2011 and Q3 2012, although this was offset by inflows from the ETF market. “Investors continued to buy gold at historically high levels, but investment demand was down from particularly high levels seen during the same period in 2011. The most significant contribution to the fall in gold demand came from the drop in bar an...