Demand for Australian bullion products surged in September, figures from The Perth Mint show, with sales of gold coins and bars the highest in five months and sales of silver coins and bars the best in three months. The Mint’s minted bullion sales not only surpassed those from the prior month but those of a year ago.
Of note, The Perth Mint’s level for gold bullion snapped a streak of five straight monthly slowdowns which started following record sales in March.
Mint sales registered against a backdrop of plunging precious metals with LBMA prices in September marking declines of 4% for gold and 10.5% for silver.
Bullion Sales in September 2021
Perth Mint September sales of gold coins and gold bars combined to 98,753 ounces, scoring gains of 83% from August and 57.7% from September 2020.
According to General Manager Minted Products, Neil Vance, higher demand for Australian bullion coins reflected the price dips in both gold and silver during September. However, sales of Perth Mint product were given a secondary boost by the release of a new series celebrating the 2022 Year of the Tiger. "The launch of the Australian Lunar annual coin series every September is eagerly anticipated by the market, and thanks to a stockpile of these new coins we were well positioned to satisfy initial demand," he explained.
Year-to-date gold sales at 819,029 ounces are 41.3% higher than the 579,466 ounces sold during the same time last year.
Perth Mint September sales of silver coins and silver bars totaled 1,789,926 ounces — the most since June, logging increases of 22% from August and 6.7% from September 2020. In June, the Mint’s silver sales at 1,823,029 ounces ranked third highest for a month according to CoinNews tracking data which dates to February 2013. (They were the second highest for a month in February at 1,830,707 ounces.)
The Mint’s silver sales for the year so far at 14,475,515 ounces are 10% higher than the 13,162,714 ounces sold during the same period last year.
Perth Mint Gold and Silver Sales by Month
Below is a monthly summary of Perth Mint bullion sales from September 2020 to September 2021. The figures show monthly ounces of gold and silver shipped as minted products by The Perth Mint to wholesale and retail customers worldwide. It excludes sales of cast bars and other Group activities including sales of allocated/unallocated precious metal for storage by the Depository.
| Perth Mint Bullion Sales (in troy ounces) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Silver | Gold | |
| September 2021 | 1,789,926 | 98,753 |
| August 2021 | 1,467,229 | 53,976 |
| July 2021 | 1,302,723 | 70,658 |
| June 2021 | 1,823,029 | 72,910 |
| May 2021 | 1,700,807 | 91,146 |
| April 2021 | 1,798,210 | 101,379 |
| March 2021* | 1,600,000 | 130,000 |
| February 2021 | 1,830,707 | 124,104 |
| January 2021 | 1,162,884 | 76,103 |
| December 2020 | 941,767 | 76,806 |
| November 2020 | 1,119,296 | 84,158 |
| October 2020 | 1,228,713 | 38,367 |
| September 2020 | 1,677,383 | 62,637 |
*Perth Mint published approximated sales data for March. Specifically, the Mint stated that during March it shipped "more than 130,000 troy ounces of gold and almost 1.6 million troy ounces of silver."
