Snippets from Miningweekly.com:

Global gold demand topped the $200-billion mark for the first time ever in 2011, with demand increasing to 4 067 t, the World Gold Council (WGC) reported on Thursday.

This was also the highest tonnage level since 1997.

The WGC said that the main driver for this increase was the investment sector, where yearly demand reached 1 640 t during the year, up 5% from the previous record set in 2010, and valued at around $82.9-billion.

Demand for gold bars and coins also continued to be robust, climbing by 24% to 1 486 t.

India remained the largest source for demand with 933 t, which the WGC said was notable, considering the volatility of the gold price and the weakness of the Indian rupee against the US dollar during the second half of the year.

In India, gold jewellery accounted for over 500 t of demand, while the investment market demand reached 366 t. Indian demand accounted for 25% of total bar and coin demand worldwide.

In China, yearly demand of 769.8 t was up 20% year-on-year as a result of increases in both jewellery and investment. The largest rise was in investment, where demand of 258.9 t with the value of RMB84.5-billion leapt 69%. Read full article