The headline series
The World Gold Council reported total demand including over-the-counter activity unchanged year on year at 1,269 tonnes for the second quarter. First-half demand reached 2,522 tonnes, up 2 per cent, with a record half-year value of about 380 billion dollars.
The record value is a price statement, not a volume statement. Anyone quoting the dollar figure as evidence of demand growth is conflating the two.
The ETF outflow
Exchange-traded funds shed roughly 45 tonnes over the quarter under selling pressure as the price consolidated. That is the weak leg of the demand structure and the one most sensitive to the rate path.
Fund flows are the marginal, price-setting buyer in most quarters. Their absence explains why the metal consolidated despite official-sector strength: central banks set the floor, funds set the direction.
Jewellery and the price ceiling
Price-sensitive jewellery demand in India and China continues to absorb the adjustment through lower volumes at higher value. Recycling has picked up in the same markets, which caps rallies at the physical level even while investment demand pulls the other way.