Now this is what I call Positive News...
Tuesday February 3, 6:19 pm Eastern Time
Berkshire owns large stake of world silver supply
NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) - As the price of silver hit a nine-year high and supplies hit new lows, Warren
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc [NYSE:BRKa - news] said it owns 129.7 million ounces of silver that it
purchased in a six-month period between July 1997 and January 1998.
Berkshire said in a press release issued on Tuesday that it it owns 129,710,000 ounces of silver, which it first
purchased beginning on July 25, 1997 and last purchased Jan. 12 of this year. That represents more than 20
percent of the world's estimated silver supply at 1997 year-end, according to metals market consulting firm
CPM Group.
The company said it normally would have published the information about its holdings in its annual report, due to
be published next month, but released the figures early in response to inquiries.
Precious metals markets have been roiled in the past week amid speculation that a leading participant had
manipulated the market by transferring silver inventories from New York to London in order to create the
impression of a supply shortage.
NYMEX President Patrick Thompson said last Friday there was ''absolutely no basis'' for allegations the
COMEX silver futures market was being manipulated.
Silver prices soared to new nine-year highs Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX
division. March silver climbed 36.7 cents to settle at $6.615 an ounce as COMEX stocks dwindled to 12-year
lows of around 103.7 million ounces.
Berkshire said it has accepted delivery of 87.51 million ounces and that the remaining 42.2 million ounces call for
delivery at varied dates until March 6, 1998. To date, all deliveries have been made on schedule, it said.
In its statement, Berkshire said that if any seller should have trouble making timely delivery, the company is
willing to defer delivery for a reasonable period upon payment of a modest fee. It said all metal was purchased
for London delivery through a single firm.
No options have been or are held by Berkshire, it said.
Berkshire said no purchases have been made that established new highs for the metal and that all buying
occurred after dips. The company said it had no present plans for purchase or sale of its silver horde.
At present, the silver position, at cost, amounts to less than 2 percent of the company's investment portfolio.
The Berkshire statement said the company began accumulating the precious metal last summer after Buffett,
Berkshire's chairman, and Charles Munger, its vice chairman, concluded that ''the equilibrium between supply
and demand was only likely to be established by a somewhat higher price.'' |
