We think of platinum and palladium as the ‘industrial metals,’ but in 2016, there was more gold used in industrial applications than either of these two metals.
According to a report released by the World Gold Council, demand for gold in electronics has been growing since the fourth quarter of 2016. On top of that, other emerging technologies in the health and energy sectors are also driving up the industrial demand for gold. All of this could have a positive impact on overall gold demand in the future.
Historically, gold’s primary industrial use has been in electronics. Its physical properties make it an ideal material for electronic applications. It’s highly conductive, it doesn’t corrode or tarnish like other conductive metals, and gold is soft and pliable. The two primary uses for gold in electronics are as an electroplated coating on connectors and contacts, and bonding wire in semiconductor packages.
The use of gold in electronics peaked in 2010 at 327 tons and then began to fall off to just 256 tons in 2016. But analysts at the World Gold Council see a sustainable resurgence in industrial demand developing.
This post was published at Schiffgold on DECEMBER 5, 2017.