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Chinese consumers have developed an appetite for lightweight gold jewelry amid the recent surge in gold prices.
The Shuibei market, a gold jewelry manufacturing and trading hub in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, was thronged with gold hoarders on Tuesday afternoon despite the price rally.
"I will buy some lightweight gold jewelry. I think such jewelry are suitable for daily wear. Even though gold prices have jumped, one gram of gold will be 30 to 40 yuan (4.17 to 5.56 U.S. dollars) more expensive than usual, meaning I will pay an extra 300 to 400 yuan for a piece of gold jewelry. So, it doesn't affect me much," said a customer.
"The recent surge in gold prices is all right for me. I will still buy the gold jewelry I like. Even though gold prices have indeed gone up, its impact is not that great for me," said another customer.
One gold store owner said since gold prices surpassed 500 yuan (about 69.55 U.S. dollars) per gram, the sales of heavyweight gold jewelry has declined, but lightweight ones with new styles are preferred by many consumers.
"The price of a piece of lightweight gold jewelry is not that high. Besides, many new styles of gold jewelry have been introduced in the market after the Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year), so consumers still have a strong demand for them," said Yao Chuangwei, a gold store owner at the Shuibei Market.
However, other gold store owners have been cautious about replenishing their inventories because of the continual jump in good prices and the fact that March is a traditional slack month for gold consumption.
"Given the recent price hike, our procurement of gold products have declined from more than 100 kilograms per week in the hot season before the Spring Festival to only about 10 kilograms per week recently. We are closely watching the rising trend of gold prices," said Chen Rihui, a gold store owner at the Shuibei Market.
"We usually replenish our inventory twice a week. But since the gold price remains high now, we will procure much fewer products than usual and save the money to recycle used gold jewelry from consumers," said Li Fudong, another store owner.