The Emirates-based Damas Jewelry Company is intending to build a gold manufacturing plant in Dubai, the biggest of its sort in the UAE. The director general of the Damas Company, Tamjeed Abdullah, was cited by Al-Watan newspaper, stating that the capital of the new factory amounts to 200 million dirhams and it will begin manufacturing within a 3-year period.
The related feasibility studies have already been accomplished, while the necessary technology and machinery will soon be installed in the factory, which will employ 300 workers. According to Al-Watan, the average per capita gold consumption in the UAE amounts to 31-33 grams. This is one of the highest gold consumption levels in the world.
The regional director of the World Gold Council, Mua’adh Barakat, said that the gold exports of the Emirate of Dubai grew to 67 tons in the first eight months of 2000, up from 56 tons in the corresponding period of the previous year. The gold imports of Dubai are estimated at more than 250 tons by the end of 2000, of which 200 tons are re-exported and the rest are consumed locally.
The demand for gold grew by 9 percent in the UAE during the first nine months of 2000 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. The demand for gold grew by 7 percent in Saudi Arabia during the same period. Yet, the demand for gold dropped by 4 percent in Kuwait, by 10 percent in the State of Bahrain and by 14 percent in the State of Qatar during the same period.
Barakat said that the gold consumption in the Middle East region had grown to 640 tons in the first nine months of 2000, up from 587 tons in the corresponding period of 1999. These figures translate into a 9 percent rise. — (Albawaba-MEBG)
