re: gold demand
In other gold news, analysts GFMS released their Gold Survey 2005 yesterday, reporting that world markets for the metal appeared relatively robust during 2004, despite some uncertainty mid-year. On the supply side, GFMS reported that global mine production fell by 5 percent in 2004 to an eight year-low of 2,464 tonnes. Indonesia had the largest drop in output followed by South Africa, Australia, the US and Canada.
Another bullish development was the fact that gold sales from central banks and other official organizations fell 23 percent on the year to a five-year low. Sales of investment gold from the private sector, however, exceeded buying for the first time in two years, resulting in 81 tonnes of supply to the market. The increase was attributed to mid-year selling of bullion during a stall in the gold price rise and a recovery in the dollar.
Gold demand looked solid in 2004, with off-take from the jewelry sector rising more than 5 percent to 129 tonnes, while electronics demand jumped by 11 percent. GFMS also found that gold producers de-hedged a record 440 tonnes of gold on the year, cutting the total hedge position to 1,800 tonnes.
