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We noted here that the plunge in the paper price of gold (and silver) had prompted considerable renewed demand for physical and now it seems the scramble among the "more stable investor base" is increasing. The shake out of ETFs and futures has left the Australian mint short of deliverables and Japanese and Chinese gold retailers seeing a "frenzied" surge in demand. The customers are not just the 'rich' or 'elderly'; in China "they tend to wear water shoes and come directly from the market...;" in Australia, "the volume of business... is way in excess of double what we did last week,... there’s been people running through the gate," and Japanese individual investors doubled gold purchases yesterday at Tokuriki Honten, the country’s second-largest retailer of the precious metal. The panic selling by a weaker 'imminent inflation-based' investor base has sparked physical shortages - "there’s been significant sales made as people see this as great value." ...
Record Orders!
Due to record orders we have had to set a temporary minimum order of £500. We are also unable to offer usual next day delivery. Orders will be dispatched ASAP in the order that funds are received. We expect to dispatch most orders within 2 weeks.
Now we discover that the Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society has essentially sold out of gold bullion, and must wait until Wednesday for shipments to arrive from Switzerland and London.
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Aram Shishmanian, CEO, World Gold Council: "It has become increasingly clear over the course of the past week that the fall in the gold price was triggered by speculative traders operating in the futures markets. Their short-term view of generating a trading profit is in stark contrast to the views of long term investors in gold, as evidenced by the massive wave of physical gold buying that began over the weekend and accelerated following Monday's further decline.
The surge in gold purchases is spanning markets from India and China to the US, Japan and Europe. Buyers are viewing this as an opportunity to purchase gold at prices not seen in the past couple of years."
The World Gold Council is uniquely positioned in the gold market to get immediate feedback on market patterns. "We are already seeing shortages for bars and coins in Dubai, ...
The premium for metal on the Shanghai Gold Exchange is up to as much as $10, in Turkey it’s almost $20 and in Asia it’s about $5, Bernard Sin, head of currency and metal trading at bullion refiner MKS (Switzerland) SA in Geneva, said today by e- mail. Last week, the premium was about $1 in Asia and Dubai, he said. “Physical demand is extraordinary,” he said.
So to avoid further speculation, and focusing on fact, here is what the CEO of Texas Precious Metals has to say about the state of the actual physical market, not the one where one can create "gold" and "silver" out of thin air. The bottom line? "The physical silver market is, in a word, ugly" and more importantly, "Last week, we turned away business in excess of 100,000 ozs of silver because of stock depletion.
As you all know, it has been a remarkable (and historic) week in the metals market, with metals prices falling precipitously. In the past two weeks, we have sold over 350,000 ozs of silver and 11,000 ozs of gold, which (as you can tell from our website) has placed an enormous strain on inventory levels, not to mention our loyal staff. As of today, we are completely sold out of silver
I want to extend a tremendous debt of gratitude to our vault and shipping staff, who continue to pull 18-hour days (working through the weekends) to meet our commitments to customers
Perth Mint has announced to distributors today that the following coins will be prioritised for manufacture:The following coins have been temporarily suspended from wholesale order, and may be in short supply for the time being:2013 Australian Kookaburra 1oz silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Koala 1 kilo silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Kookaburra 1 kilo silver bullion coin2013 Australian Lunar 1 kilo Year of the Snake silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Lunar 10oz Year of the Snake silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Lunar 5oz Year of the Snake silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Lunar 2oz Year of the Snake silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Lunar 1/2oz Year of the Snake silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Kookaburra 10oz silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Koala 10oz silver bullion coin
2013 Australian Koala 1/2oz silver bullion coin
... supply shortages and high premiums on physical metal are being reported all around the world.
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Mexican financial journalist Guillermo Barba reports tonight that demand for his country's silver Libertad coins has exploded, according to information provided to him by the Bank of Mexico.
For April through the 23rd of the month, Barba writes, the central bank had sold 174,055 Libertad coins, more than were sold in the first three months of this year altogether -- 169,928 coins total in those three months, 46,693 in January, 80,929 in February, and 42,306 in March.
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Tulving only has 14 different silver products for sale right now, and is sold out of many of his silver products, including 90% junk (sold out products are now listed in a separate table on the lower half of the page).
I noticed that he is BUYING 90% silver at anywhere from 30-60 cents ABOVE spot, whereas for most to 2012 he was selling at below spot and buying at even further below spot.
Today 41-year market veteran Bill Haynes told King World News that the largest wholesaler in the United States is completely sold out of 100 ounce silver bars and is no longer willing to take orders. ...
Haynes: “Eric, the largest wholesaler in the United States is no longer taking orders for 100 ounces silver bars. They have sold out their allotment of Johnson Matthey 100 ounce (silver) bars. Their whole allotment for the month of May has been sold....
They will not take orders for bullion they are not sure if they can get. The remaining wholesalers that are still selling 100 ounce silver bars, they’ve kicked their premiums up.
One ounce silver rounds, they will quote them, but there is 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Silver (American) Eagles, Silver Maple Leafs, still 4 to 5 weeks out. 90% (coin) is still very difficult to get.
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... Look at the Swiss refiners, they are continuing to have major delays in delivering gold. These delays are several weeks and this is in spite of running at full capacity, 24/7. Refiners’ premiums for prompt delivery right now are around $6 to $7, and it’s been as high as $20 recently. ...
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