UAE gold consumption expected to recover

Published March 22nd, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

The UAE gold consumption is expected to increase by 10 % this year, a senior official from the World Gold Council said.

Moaz Barakat, managing director, Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan, WGC, said that the gold consumption in UAE, which dropped to 90.3 tons last year from 93.1 tons during the previous year, will go up by 10 % by the end of this year, according to a report in Khaleej Times.

According to him, gold imports into Dubai, which have been showing a steady drop in recent years, will also go up by 10 % this year. The Dubai gold trade statistics recently issued by Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre indicated that the emirate's gold imports in 2001 reached 409,528 kilo bars, while in 2002 imports came down to 375, 638 kilo bars and hit 373,771 kilo bars last year.

Barakat attributed the steady decline in gold imports into Dubai not only to a constant rise in international gold prices since the fall of the US dollar, but also to Dubai's weak gold re-export market during the past three years.