GEORGE TOWN: The sale of gold jewellery products is expected to rise by the end of the month due to the forthcoming Aidilfitri festive holidays and the stabilising price of gold.
Penang Goldsmith Association (PGA) chairman Joeson Khor told StarBiz that overseas and domestic sales of gold jewellery had dipped by about 20% in the past two months compared to early this year.
“The slower sales is due to the holiday season in the Middle East, when there is usually a slowdown in purchases.
“With the Ramadhan holidays coming, we expect sales to the Middle East to pick up again by the end of the month.
“Furthermore the current gold price of US$1,200 per ounce is also expected to boost sales.
“At US$1,200 per ounce, the price of gold today is slightly higher than the US$1,135 per ounce price in March, but lower than the peak in December 2009, which was about US$1,300 per ounce,” he said.
The price of gold price dropped US$24.20 from US$1,200 per ounce on July 28, but rebounded back to US$1,200 per ounce on Aug 4.
“Moving forward till the year ends, we expect the price of gold to stabilise between US$1,100 and US$1,300 per ounce.
“The sales of gold jewellery this year should improve over that of a year ago,” he said.
According to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (MATRADE) latest report, the country’s export of gold, silver, and platinum jewellery and other precious metals hit about RM2.7bil for the first five months of 2010, compared to approximately RM2.3bil achieved in the same period in 2009.
The PGA has about 680 members, of which about 10% are gold jewellery manufacturers, exporting over 80% of the country’s gold jewellery.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Goldsmith and Jewellers’ Association of Malaysia is now encouraging the sale of 10-gm mini gold bars being sold by retailers in the country.
“This is to make investment in gold affordable for small investors and to encourage investment in gold as a hedge against inflation.
“The advantage of buying mini gold bars from goldsmiths is that you can sell it back to them at anytime without any paper work.
“If you were to purchase mini gold bars from banks and sell back to them, a lot of paper work is required,” he said.
Khor also noted that India had become a fast growing market for special grade zirconia stones with unique engravings and cuttings, which was 50% more expensive than normal zirconia stones.
“Silver, presently priced at about US$18 per ounce, is now popularly used as an alternative to gold as background for such high grade zirconia stones.
“This is because silver resembles white gold and platinum,” he said.
