Washington (Platts)--7Jan2013/203 pm EST/1903 GMT

The value of physical inflows into gold exchange-traded product funds in the fourth quarter once again exceeded quarterly inflows of other commodity ETPs, according to data that fund provider ETF Securities released Monday.

Gold ETPs saw Q4 net inflows of $4.5 billion, far outdistancing the $445 million in crude oil ETPs and $410 million for broadly diversified commodity ETPs, said ETF Securities analyst Nicholas Brooks.

Overall, energy ETPs saw Q4 inflows totaling $682 million, compared with net Q3 outflows of $627 million, while precious metal ETPs saw Q4 inflows totaling $4.95 billion compared with $8.3 billion in the previous quarter.

"There were very strong inflows into the physical gold exchange-traded products during the quarter," Brooks said in an interview, although he noted that Q4 inflows fell short of the $7.7 billion seen in Q3.

"Most of the gold ETP investors are buying gold because they are concerned about the US debt problem, and the potential for further debasement of the US dollar," he said. "And in Europe, investors are also concerned about the same thing, with the added concern about the sovereign debt crisis and some kind of break-up of the euro."

Gold investors appeared to look beyond improving US and Chinese economic data in the fourth quarter, Brooks added. "They're not tactical investors; they're not overly affected by expectations of growth that lead to an increase in real US interest rates. They're buying gold more for strategic reasons," he said.

Key drivers for the gold inflows during the quarter included growing concerns about the "fiscal cliff" in the US and the upcoming debt-ceiling debate, he said.

Although most institutional investors see the likelihood of a US debt default from the debt ceiling as small, "they see it as a high-impact event, and I think most investors look at gold as one of the best hedges against that risk," Brooks said.

Turning to industrial metals, inflows into copper ETPs totaled $115 million, compared with net declines of $56 million and $77 million in Q3 and Q2, respectively, according to the data. Overall, industrial metal ETPs saw net inflows of $94 million in Q4 compared with $81 million in Q3.

"For copper, I was actually surprised at the strength of the inflows," Brooks said. "I think the main reason for the jump in inflows was the pick-up in Chinese growth data, as well as improving sentiment toward the US."

--Nick Jonson, nick_jonson@platts.com --Edited by Valarie Jackson, valarie_jackson@platts.com