Q2 Saw Tech, Industry Demanding More Gold, WGC Dat
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Data released by the World Gold Council shows that in the second quarter, the demand for gold from tech and industry continued rebounding. Industrial and technology applications consumed more than 80 gold tons this past quarter, representing an 11% increase year-on-year. This rise pushed up the demand for gold for the first half of 2024 to 162 tons.
In the tech industry, the field of electronics was the main driver of gold demand. This comes as the demand for chips used in applications such as computing and artificial intelligence (AI) continued to increase. During this quarter, the sector also recorded a modest rise in demand for electronics by consumers.
In total, major electronics fabrication hubs globally recorded a year-over-year increase in the demand of gold in the second quarter. In detail, China recorded a 14% increase while Japan saw a 27% increase in gold demand. South Korea also recorded a 34% rise in gold demand while the United States saw gold demand increase by 4%.
Gold utilized in the production of LEDs also recorded modest growth, primarily bolstered by flat-panel-screen production for the Olympic Games in Paris. There are also other areas of demand for LEDs, including robotics, infrastructure for charging stations, automotive applications, food preservation, water and air purification.
Gold demand for printed circuit boards also rose in this quarter, driven by increasing shipments of high-end printed circuit boards, which contained higher concentrations of the precious metal. There was also increased demand for the printed circuit boards used in satellite and server applications.
Data from the World Gold Council expects that the precious metal’s demand in the electronics sector will remain strong in the third quarter. This sentiment is shared by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Group, which forecasts a 16% increase across the semiconductor market this year.
Samsung expects revenues from the second quarter to increase by 23% due to surging demand for artificial intelligence chips. Micron and SK Hynix, which are among the biggest manufacturers of memory chips, have also announced that this year’s stock of memory chips is already sold with most of next year’s production being reserved.
Gold’s demand in separate industrial applications added up to 11 tons in the second quarter. This was unaltered year-on-year, given that there were fewer weddings, which caused a decrease in demand for gold thread for saris. However, this drop was cancelled out by the increasing demand for gold-plated jewelry in China.
As the demand for gold in technology and industrial applications grows, the future looks bullish for extraction and exploration companies such as Eloro Resources Ltd. (TSX: ELO) (OTCQX: ELRRF) that are focused on finding more deposits of this precious metal that the market can’t seem to get enough of.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Eloro Resources Ltd. (TSX: ELO) (OTCQX: ELRRF) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/ELRRF
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