Perth Mint works through weekend as gold demand surges on price

Bullion falls 14% in the two days to 15 April, the most since 1983, spurring buyers to increase physical holdings

Gold for immediate delivery traded at $1,473.05 an ounce at 08:01 am in Singapore after losing 0.2%. Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg News

Melbourne: Australia’s Perth Mint, which refines nearly all of the nation’s bullion, said that demand has jumped to the highest level in five years after prices plunged, with the factory kept open through the weekend to meet orders.

There’s been strong interest, including from the US, with buyers speculating that the metal will rebound from the decline, Ron Currie, sales and marketing director, said in a phone interview from Perth.

Bullion fell 14% in the two days to 15 April, the most since 1983, spurring buyers to increase physical holdings. Billionaire John Paulson, the biggest investor in the largest exchange-traded product backed by bullion, reiterated his bullish view on prices. Coin sales by the US Mint are set for the highest month since December 2009, while premiums to secure supplies in India rose to five times the level before the slump.

 

PREETI CHAUHAN

PGDM 2sem