Perth Mint Out of 100 Ounce Silver Bars for at least 6 Weeks

[Serpo]

King World News has verified with the Perth Mint that they have run out of 100 ounce silver bars and they are not slated to be available again until the end of March. As of the close Thursday, 100 ounce silver bars were still unavailable at ScotiaMocatta as well.

KWN also reached out to one of the largest dealers in Australia where Peter August of ABC Melbourne stated, “Pamp was just approached by an unnamed Swiss bank and solicited for their entire one kilo silver production ongoing. They said, “Because of the high demand, we’ll take everything you’ve got in one kilo silver bars ongoing.” Peter August went on to say, “We already have a month’s wait for the silver we are buying and it’s getting much harder to find.”


August also remarked, “Gold is starting to get a lot scarcer. Apparently at one point Hong Kong basically ran out of physical gold for sale two weeks ago. We were told that there was no physical gold available for sale in Hong Kong with no timeline given as to when more would be available. Mitsui ran out and the large dealers in Hong Kong were short of physical gold as well. Wether that was just a one time situation remains to be seen, but cracks are starting to appear in the physical market.”


Multiple sources around the world have been confirming tightness in the precious metals markets. So far the market has reacted with higher prices. Silver is within striking distance of multi-decade highs, it will be interesting to see how it trades the next couple of weeks.

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2011/2/10_Perth_Mint_Out_of_100_Ounce_Silver_Bars_for_at_ least_6_Weeks.html

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JTd2KOgmF9A/Sm50EmLCxoI/AAAAAAAAAao/P-ZeXOdOrVQ/s400/supply_and_demand.gif

[Serpo]

King World News has received word from James Turk that silver is in extreme backwardation. Turk stated, “There is a huge story that is brewing. Silver is in backwardation to 2015, which is 13-cents cheaper than spot. This is unbelievable. Money does not go into backwardation except ‘in extremis’!”

February 10, 2011






“If this situation continues, and there is no reason to suspect that it is about to end quietly because the demand for physical silver is not abating, there are only two alternatives:



One, as we discussed on Friday, the silver price has to rise in order to dislodge physical metal from the strong hands that now own it. But why would anyone accept some national currency in exchange for physical silver unless the price is much, much higher?



Two, the shorts declare force majeure and use government force to let them escape from their untenable position. The fall-out from this outcome is very complex because there are so many factors to consider. But I would expect that any default would only strengthen the resolve of the strong hands now owning physical metal. Meaning that the market for physical silver would become even more tight than it is now, even if the price shoots higher as I expect.”



Turk also went on to make the following points:



“Look for a short squeeze in silver already underway as evidenced by the backwardation to intensify as we move toward silver option expiry at the end of this month, and silver delivery on March futures contracts in early March. In a short squeeze, what matters is ownership, not price. When you own physical metal, you are protected from government sanctioned force majeure that bails out the shorts.



As I mentioned Friday, the paper market for silver is losing its significance in the process of price discovery. Everyone who owns physical silver should make their decisions based on what is happening in the physical market, not the paper market.



A basic premise of precious metals is that silver leads gold, which is a point we have discussed before. It will be interesting to see whether the backwardation in silver will lead to a backwardation of gold. If it does, the end game for the US dollar is near. It would mean hyperinflation of the dollar is upon us.”



Turk brings up a key point here about keeping an eye on the physical market in both metals. Paper gyrations aside, in the end the physical market will have the last word.



Eric King

KingWorldNews.com

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2011/2/10_Turk_-_Silver_Backwardation_for_Years,_Possible_Hyperinf lation.html

[Bron Suchecki]

Update on that here http://www.perthmintbullion.com/blog/blog/11-02-10/100oz_Silver_Bars_Back_In_Stock.aspx

Perth Mint is not experiencing any problems sourcing mine silver (we refine 140t per year) or 1000oz bars. We have had such strong demand for gold kilo bars, particularly from Asia/China, that it has resulted in production scheduling clashes.

We are currently acquiring additional equipment so we can have a dedicated silver bar production line, plus we have a new 1 tonne coin press currently being installed which will be primarily focused on kilo silver coins, which are huge in Europe (coins avoid VAT).

[Serpo]

Update on that here http://www.perthmintbullion.com/blog/blog/11-02-10/100oz_Silver_Bars_Back_In_Stock.aspx

Perth Mint is not experiencing any problems sourcing mine silver (we refine 140t per year) or 1000oz bars. We have had such strong demand for gold kilo bars, particularly from Asia/China, that it has resulted in production scheduling clashes.

We are currently acquiring additional equipment so we can have a dedicated silver bar production line, plus we have a new 1 tonne coin press currently being installed which will be primarily focused on kilo silver coins, which are huge in Europe (coins avoid VAT).


February 11 2011

Bruce says:
I mosey'd on down to the mint at lunch time because i have some on order and they told me that they didn't have any stock, but were taking orders again and that i should wait until they ring me and reconfirmed march as a delivery date.

http://www.perthmintbullion.com/blog/blog/11-02-10/100oz_Silver_Bars_Back_In_Stock.aspx

[Sparky]

I don't understand what it means for them to run out of silver bars. That doesn't say as much about silver scarcity as it does about Perth Mint.

If my Honda dealer says they are all out of Accords, but other dealers have them, I'll just go to another dealer. It means my dealer is running a bad business. If there were truly a scarcity, Perth Mint should be buying all the available bars from Tulving, Apmex, etc. to meet there demand.

What am I missing here? There's no escaping the supply-demand price point curve posted above.