(Reuters) – Perth Mint’s gold product sales in February fell to their lowest in more than two years, while silver sales rose about 20% on the month, the refiner said in a blog post on Wednesday.
Monthly sales of gold coins and minted bars dipped 18.9% to 52,241 ounces last month, from 64,395 in January.
Silver sales, on the other hand, rose 20.4% on a monthly basis to 1,484,936 ounces.
The sales of Australian gold bullion products slowed in February, “to some extent reflected the fact that we did not unveil any new gold investor coins during the month,” Neil Vance, general manager for minted products, said.
Benchmark spot gold prices scaled their highest since April 2022 at $1,959.60 per ounce in early February, but soon reversed course. Bullion fell more than 5% last month, its biggest monthly decline since June 2021, pressured by prospects of more rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The refiner on Tuesday said there is no question about the value and purity of gold bars it has sold to customers in China, responding to a media report alleging it could face a potential recall of $9 billion worth of “doped” gold bars.
The Perth Mint, owned by the government of Western Australia, is the world’s largest producer of newly-mined gold. Its website claims that it is the biggest refiner by volume in Australasia.
The intake each year equates to almost 75% of newly mined gold in Australia, one of the world’s biggest gold producers.
The following table details Perth Mint’s monthly sales including coins and minted bars:
Period Gold (oz) Silver (oz)
(year-month)
2023-Feb 52,241 1,484,936
2023-Jan 64,395 1,233,344
2022-Dec 60,634 1,634,751
2022-Nov 114,304 1,315,293
2022-Oct 183,102 1,995,350
2022-Sept 88,554 2,579,941
2022-Aug 84,976 1,655,334
2022-July 79,305 2,465,513
2022-June 65,281 1,523,765
2022-May 98,515 2,217,582
2022-April 80,941 2,119,491
2022-March 121,997 1,649,634
2022-Feb 72,651 1,632,323
2022-Jan 66,709 2,387,165
2021-Dec 54,861 1,733,293
2021-Nov 115,872 1,530,598
2021-Oct 59,750 1,352,275
2021-Sept 98,753 1,789,926
2021-August 53,976 1,467,229
2021-July 70,658 1,302,723
2021-June 72,910 1,823,029
2021-May 91,146 1,700,807
2021-April 101,379 1,798,210
2021-March 130,000 1,600,000
2021-Feb 124,104 1,830,707
2021-Jan 76,103 1,162,884
2020-Dec 76,806 941,767
2020-Nov 84,158 1,119,269
2020-Oct 38,367 1,228,713
2020-Sept 62,637 1,677,383
2020-Aug 67,462 1,431,036
2020-July 56,104 1,567,900
2020-June 44,371 1,573,752
2020-May 63,393 997,171
2020-April 120,504 2,123,121
2020-March 93,775 1,736,409
2020-Feb 22,921 605,634
2020-Jan 48,299 1,450,317
2019-Dec 78,912 1,361,723
2019-Nov 54,261 1,027,695
2019-Oct 32,469 1,394,615
2019-Sept 46,837 1,350,038
2019-Aug 21,766 1,171,233
2019-July 21,518 987,040
2019-June 19,449 344,474
2019-May 10,790 681,582
2019-April 19,991 906,219
2019-March 32,757 935,819
2019-Feb 19,524 584,310
2019-Jan 31,189 828,854
2018-Dec 29,186 692,971
2018-Nov 64,308 876,446
2018-Oct 36,840 1,079,684
2018-Sept 62,552 1,305,600
2018-Aug 38,904 520,245
2018-July 29,921 486,821
2018-June 16,847 229,280
2018-May 14,800 557,120
2018-April 15,161 458,655
2018-March 29,883 975,921
2018-Feb 26,473 992,954
2018-Jan 37,174 1,067,361
2017-Dec 27,009 874,437
2017-Nov 23,901 544,436
2017-Oct 44,618 999,425
2017-Sept 46,415 697,849
2017-Aug 23,130 392,091
2017-July 23,675 1,167,963
2017-June 19,259 1,215,071
2017-May 29,679 826,656
2017-April 10,490 468,977
2017-March 22,232 716,283
2017-Feb 25,257 502,353
2017-Jan 72,745 1,230,867
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
