WGC Says Akshay Tritiya Gold Sales May Exceed Last Year's

If so, then the reports that trickled out about sales being much slower this year have proven to be wrong. According to the World Gold Council, gold buying for this year's Akshay Tritiya festival might be greater this year than last year, as a report from the Economic Times relates:

Despite a 21% year-on-year rise in per gram gold prices on Akshay Tritiya, the quantity of gold sold this year is expected to be higher than that of last year’s, indicative sources from industry body World Gold Council (WGC) told ET. Across the country, 45 tonne gold were sold last year on the festive occasion....

Based on information trickling in from across the country, the WGC sources said they anticipated higher sales this year because large retail jewellers with multiple outlets across cities have seen a rise in volumes sold from last year’s festivity. Significantly, while these large players constitute 20-30% of the country’s five lakh-odd jewellers they control 70-80% of the business.

WGC was not able to provide numbers as the council is still compiling the data, which will be consolidated in its third quarterly trends report. The first quarter trends are expected to be out next week....

The surprises keep on coming. If the WGC's estimate pans out, then the demand was really underestimated. The dealers that reported may have been squeezed out by the gold equivalent of chain stores.