DUBAI, June 9: Strong gold prices are unlikely to put the brakes on imports of the precious metal into Dubai, despite a recent fall in purchases by the Gulf Arab emirate known as “the City of Gold”, industry executives say.

Gold’s surge to multi-year highs earlier this year scared buyers in many parts of the world and pulled down Dubai’s first-quarter imports by 7.6 per cent to 122 tons.

Last year, gold imports reached 559 tons on investors’ appetite for the metal, while exports hit 287 tons.Dubai, the Gulf’s commercial hub, has the highest concentration of jewellery shops in the world, generating trade worth $35 billion last year 20 per cent of the $173 billion total global jewellery trade.

“Dubai will finish this year with the same level of gold imports we have seen last year regardless of the high volatile prices,” said Moaz Barakat, managing director of the World Gold Council in the Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan.

“Imports are not directly related to price only. You have other factors like exports and industry demand,” he said.

Spot gold powered to a record of $1,030.80 an ounce on March 17 on record-high crude oil, fears of inflation and expectations of more rate cuts in the United States, making the metal more attractive as an alternative investment.

Gold has since fallen, but rose to a high of $900.30 an ounce on Friday on record oil prices and a dollar drop after data showed a sharp rise in US unemployment and as equity markets slipped on worries about economic growth.—Reuters