Friday, 19 April 2013
DOHA: Gold bars and coins have literally disappeared from the Qatari market amid what traders say is a mad rush for the yellow metal as its prices continue to slide.
Major bullion traders yesterday said they had exhausted stocks of gold coins and bars of various sizes, including the standard 116-gram pure gold (24-carat) bar, demand for which is peaking.
"We had nearly 800 bars (of 116 grams each) and they sold out like hot cakes in just two hours today," a senior official of Gulf Exchange, which also deals in bullion, told this newspaper yesterday.
The 116-gram bar was selling for QR19,000. Its price was slightly higher in jewellery stores, some of which still have limited stocks of coins and bars since their sales pitch focuses on jewellery.
Malabar Gold, a well-known jewellery outlet, said it still had pure gold bars of various sizes -- 116, 100, 50, 10 and five grams. Their rates were, however, a little on the higher side.
Al Fardan Exchange, which is a major bullion trader, said it had run out of stocks of gold coins and bars.
Gulf Exchange said it had nearly 2,000 gold bars of smaller sizes and they were all sold out in just a few days. "We are getting fresh stocks," the exchange official said. Gold coins, made of 22-carat gold, come in different sizes -- five, eight, 10, 20 and 30 grams -- and are more in demand.
Bars, on the other hand, are of 24 carats, or pure gold, and they also come in various sizes -- five, 10, 20 and 30 grams, among others.
The customers engaging in what is being described by jewellers and bullion traders as frenzied buying are mostly Asian and Arab expatriates. South Asians, particularly Pakistanis, Nepalese and Indians, are the largest buyers of gold bars and coins as well as gold jewellery.
Expatriates prefer to carry gold bars and coins home for sale and jewellery-making, especially during marriages in their families. Some prefer to stock up on gold as an investment for the future.
Pure and 22-carat gold from the GCC states carry a premium in South Asian countries due to their purity.
Gold rates in the local market yesterday were QR170 per gram for pure gold (24 carats), QR157 for a gram of 22-carat gold, QR147 for 21 carats, and QR128 for 18-carat gold, jewellery made of which is mostly preferred by Filipinos.
© The Peninsula 2013
