Gold Scrap Sales Probably Fell to 350 Tons, According to GFMS
bloomberg.com
By Claudia Carpenter
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Gold sales in the form of old jewelry and other used pieces of metal probably dropped to about 350 metric tons in the second quarter as some owners declined to sell at lower prices, GFMS Ltd. said.
Total scrap sales fell “over 40 percent” from the first quarter as disposals in Turkey “dried up,” GFMS said today in an e-mailed statement. Bullion prices in the country declined 4 percent in the second quarter from the prior three months, said Philip Newman, an analyst at the London-based metals researcher.
“In Turkey, they got used to the high price levels,” he said. “You would require a return to prices that we saw in the first quarter, or higher than that now, to see scrap come out again. In the U.S., scrap was not down. The recession is still there.”
Scrap sales were a record 1,218 tons last year as the world recession spurred some owners to raise cash and others took advantage of higher prices, GFMS said in April.
Gold for immediate delivery rose to an 11-month high of $1,006.29 an ounce in February as investors sought a haven against stock-market losses. By April 17, the price had dropped to $864.97.
To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: July 31, 2009 10:36 EDT |
