China’s platinum jewelery market to boom in 2009

Platinum Guild International (PGI) expects the decline in platinum prices and the proactive domestic fiscal policies in the second half of last year to stimulate consumer spending on platinum jewelery in China in 2009, China Daily reported.

PGI said that the fall in global platinum prices because of the diminishing industrial demand for the precious metal since the onset of global economic crisis in the third quarter of 2008 has resulted in a decline in the retail price of platinum jewelery, leading to stronger platinum jewelery sales. Further, China’s fiscal policies are expected to boost economic growth and expand domestic consumption.

Grace Man, director of PGI China, was quoted as saying that as the world’s largest market for platinum jewelery, China has experienced steady and rapid development in terms of both market scale and industry growth over the past decade. She went on to say that in 2009, with a more stable market price, a booming wedding market and the orchestrated efforts of the industry, PGI China is confident of the future development of the platinum jewelery industry in China.

Industry analyst Johnson Matthey also forecast that the demand for platinum will rise in China. “As the current price is less than half of the peak in 2008, we expect rapid growth in Chinese platinum demand,” he told the newspaper.

Last year, platinum demand for jewelery fabrication in China was estimated at about 760,000 ounces, which constitutes 68 percent of the global total of 1.12 million ounces, revealed Johnson Matthey in its Platinum 2008 Interim Review. It was the ninth consecutive year that China was named the globe’s largest market for platinum jewelery.

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