Perth Mints August gold, silver sales rise on lower prices

(September 3rd, 2018 - Reuters)

Sales of gold products by the Perth Mint in August rose from a month earlier to their highest since October 2017, as lower bullion prices attracted buying, the mint said on Monday.

Sales of gold coins and minted bars surged 30 percent to 38,904 ounces last month, the mint said in a blog post. Gold sales in August nearly doubled from a year-ago period.

"Lower bullion prices continued to support interest in our minted products among investors," a company spokesman said. Gold prices fell about 2 percent in August, declining for a fifth straight month in their longest losing streak in 5-1/2-years. Silver sales rose nearly 7 percent from July to 520,245 ounces. From a year earlier, sales advanced about 33 percent.

Silver prices fell 6.5 percent in August, marking their third straight monthly decline.

The Perth Mint refines more than 90 percent of newly mined gold in Australia, the world’s second-largest gold producer after China.

Gold fell on Monday, with prices dropping below the $1,200 technical level, as the dollar strengthened on worries over the potential for more tariffs between the United States and China as part of their trade war.