Gold demand explodes

Demand in China for physical gold and gold-related investments is growing at an "explosive" pace and appetite for the yellow metal is poised to remain robust amid inflation concerns, said an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) executive on Wednesday.
ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, sold about 7 tons of physical gold in January this year, nearly half of the 15 tons of bullion sold in the whole of 2010, said Zhou Ming, deputy head of the bank's precious metals department. "There is also frantic demand for non-physical gold investments," Zhou said.