S.Korean gold drive nets over 40 tonnes - industry
Reuters Story - January 12, 1998 06:23
%GOL %KR %EMRG %MET 04940.KS 23130.KS 00170.KS 01120.KS V%REUTER P%RTR
By Jae Hur
SEOUL, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A South Korean drive to collect
gold from private citizens to raise badly-needed foreign
currency had gathered more than 40 tonnes worth more than $400
million by last Saturday, industry sources said on Monday.
"We have netted more than 40 tonnes," said a source close to
the campaign.
Most of the items brought in for sale were rings, necklaces,
bracelets, hailpicks, keys, coins, bars and turtles, a common
gold item held by Koreans.
The gold-selling campaign, which kicked off last Monday,
will last till January 31 through 446 branches of the Housing
and Commercial Bank, a main sponsor of the nationwide drive.
The success of the campaign has spawned a flurry of efforts
by other financial institutions to collect gold, among them the
bank of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in
co-operation with Samsung Corp and Munhwa Broadcasting Company.
"We started a nationwide campaign today to help the
country's economy and it will continue through our 2,210
branches till February 21," a bank spokesman said.
The collected gold would be exported by Samsung Corp after
refining and Munhwa Broadcasting Co would support by
advertising.
A spokesman of Korea Exchange Bank said it
started a similar campaign with Hyundai Group and the Korea
Broadcasting System from Monday till February 14 through its 60
representative branches in the country.
Kookmin Bank will launch another campaign with
the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, Seoul
Broadcasting System, LG Metals Corp and LG
International Corp from Tuesday till February 14, the
bank said in a statement.
Local bullion traders feared the gold-collection rush by
local banks and corporations could undermine the international
gold price unless sales abroad were centralised, but there was
little sign of any efforts to centralise these gold sales at the
moment.
-- Jae Hur, Seoul newsroom (822) 727 5651
-- email: seoul.newsroomreuters.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I read a paragraph in Douglas R. Casey book, "Lifetime Getting Rich In An Age Of Crisis Investment Opportunities" published in 1994, page 112; " in 1978 I practically begged readers to load up on gold and silver. Gold was selling for $270 an ounce and silver was going for $6.50. By 1980, gold shot up to $850 an ounce, and silver nearly hit $50. " But investors found out fast that there's nothing magic about any investment. "Gold dropped from a high of $850 in Feruary to $450 in March. By 1992 it reached a low of $298. " IMO (al holman), the prices of gold and silver are very similar, and I wonder if the prices will follow the same path as between 1978 and 1980; or is it another situation. It appears, those in control of the world economy, are accumulating raw gold at the most cheapest prices. Can you imagine how much gold you can buy, and then if the gold market triples; how much wealthier you would be ? Well, as usual, PLEASE DO YOUR due diligence, remember; this is only my opinion. |
