Chinese Gold Imports via Hong Kong Down 32 Percent

Bloomberg reported that in 2014, gold shipments to China from Hong Kong sank 32 percent after hitting a record the previous year.

As quoted in the market news:

Net imports by mainland China were 750 metric tons last year, down from 1,108.8 tons in 2013, when shipments more than doubled, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. Imports in December fell 36 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the figures, which deduct flows from China into Hong Kong.

Demand for luxury goods including bullion has been hurt by an anti-graft drive in China, while a rally in stock markets damped interest in the metal as an investment. Purchases of the precious metal that pushed China above India as the world’s biggest consumer after it dropped into a bear market in 2013 haven’t been sustained, leading banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to predict further price declines.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.