Asia Gold-India demand falters as virus rages, China ramps up imports

SouthGobi Resources

16/04/2021 14:18

* India premiums rise to $4 versus $3 last week
    * China premiums little changed at $7-$9 
    * China allows multi-billion dollar gold imports - sources 

    By Rajendra Jadhav and Brijesh Patel
    April 16 (Reuters) - Elevated domestic prices and renewed
coronavirus restrictions due to a surge in infections dulled
physical gold purchases in India, while China stepped up bullion
imports as demand gradually rebooted.
    "Retail demand has been falling in many regions due to
restrictions on the movement of people," said Ashok Jain,
proprietor of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji.
    On Friday, local gold futures  MAUc2  were trading around
47,000 rupees per 10 grams after rising to 47,279 rupees on
Thursday, the highest since mid-February.
    Many states such as Maharashtra, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh
have imposed local curbs to arrest the spread of the
coronavirus. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2M817W  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LX06R
    Dealers were charging a premium of up to $4 an ounce this
week over official domestic prices, inclusive of 10.75% import
and 3% sales levies, up from the last week's $3.
    Jewellers were making moderate purchases despite weak retail
demand, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a bullion importing
bank.
    In China, the world's biggest gold consumer, premiums of
$7-$9 an ounce were charged over benchmark spot gold prices,
compared with $7-$10 an ounce last week.  XAU= 
    "I think what's keeping the premiums in check is the recent
news about onshore banks being allowed to import more gold by
the People's Bank of China," said Yingtao Jin, an analyst at
StoneX Group. 
    China has given commercial banks permission to import large
amounts of gold into the country, five sources familiar with the
matter said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2M754I
    Premiums of around $1.8 an ounce were being charged in
Singapore, said Raghu Kedia, managing director at Arihant
Jewellers, adding domestic demand remained slow, although more
gold was flowing into China via Hong Kong and even Dubai.
    In Hong Kong, premiums charged were $0.50-$2 an ounce
versus$0.50-$1.80 last week. 
    In Japan, gold was sold between flat to a premium of $0.50,
compared with premiums of $0.5-$1 last week.

 (Reporting by Brijesh Patel, Diptendu Lahiri and Swati Verma in
Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Kirsten
Donovan)
 ((Brijesh.Patel1@thomsonreuters.com; Within U.S. +1 651 848
5832, Outside U.S. +91 8067493865; Reuters Messaging:
Brijesh.Patel1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))