The WGC says that in the face of successive financial crises and loose monetary policy, German investors turned to gold to protect their wealth and in response, new product providers entered the market making it easier for people to invest.
"Last year, more than €6 billion was ploughed into gold investment products in Germany and, encouragingly, there is room for further growth: consumer research indicates there is latent retail demand which the industry can tap into.
"The German investment market has undergone a radical transformation in the past 10 years. Before 2008 it was small. Bar and coin demand languished at low levels: average demand between 1995 and 2007 was a modest 17 tonnes and, in some years, there were more sellers than buyers. In the early 2000s, some banks pulled out of the precious metals business altogether. The gold-backed exchange-traded commodities (ETC) market wasn't much to shout about either: before 2007, no gold-backed ETCs were listed in Germany," the WGC said.
The WGC said the ETC market registered impressive growth too. Assets under management jumped from zero at the start of 2007 to around 36t two years later and, in the years that followed, more gold-backed ETC products entered the market.
"Since then, the German gold investment market has flourished. In 2016, €6.8 billion was ploughed into German gold investment products. Germany has established itself as a 100t-plus per year market for bars and coins, and a vibrant domestic ETC market has developed: during Q3 2017, German-listed ETC AUM hit an all-time high of 252.1t, equivalent to €9.8 billion," the WGC said.
Overnight, the gold price was fixed at $1293.77 yesterday, up from $1291.70 in the previous trading session.
The WTI crude oil price was slightly down overnight at $50.66 per barrel.
In softer commodities, cocoa decreased $7 per tonne or 0.33% to $2090/t yesterday from the $2097 in the previous trading session, tradingeconomics.com reported. Historically, cocoa reached an all-time high of $4361.58/t in July of 1977 and a record low of $211/t in July of 1965.
Coffee decreased 0.45c per pound or 0.35% to 126.35c/lb yesterday from 126.80c/lb in the previous trading session, tradingeconomics.com reported. Historically, coffee reached an all-time high of 339.86c/lb in April of 1977 and a record low of 42.50c/lb in October of 2001.
