Australian bullion sales split in August, with tallies higher for coins and bars in silver but lower for those in gold, according to the latest data from The Perth Mint of Australia.
The monthly slowdown was a fifth in a row for the Mint’s gold bullion products following record sales in March. In fact, the monthly amount was the lowest since October.
Bullion Sales in August 2021
Perth Mint August sales of gold coins and gold bars combined to 53,976 ounces, marking declines of 23.6% from July and 20% from August 2020.
Year-to-date gold sales at 720,276 ounces are 39.4% higher than the 516,829 ounces sold during the leading eight months of last year.
General Manager Minted Products, Neil Vance said sales of Perth Mint physical gold bullion in August reflected an easing of demand among its key distributors worldwide. However, he noted, "demand for our gold coin and minted bar products remained comfortably above pre-COVID levels, which averaged 33,690 troy ounces per month between August and October 2019. Meanwhile, Perth Mint silver coins remained a key focus for investors. Higher output was achieved in August 2021 as coin presses were brought back online after a period of maintenance."
Perth Mint August sales of silver coins and silver bars totaled 1,467,229 ounces, posting increases of 12.6% from July and 2.5% from August 2020. As recently as June, the Mint’s silver sales at 1,823,029 ounces ranked third highest for a month according to CoinNews tracking data which dates back to February 2013.
The Mint’s silver sales for the year so far at 12,685,589 ounces are 10.5% higher than the 11,485,331 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 August 2020 to August 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 | |
| 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 |
| August 2020 | 1,431,036 | 67,462 |
*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."
