U.K. Royal Mint’s Sales Surge 20% In Q1 - Report

Anna Golubova  Thursday April 13, 2017 21:59

As gold continued to climb on increased geopolitical tensions, U.K. Royal Mint saw a growing demand for its products — with sales jumping 20% during the first three months of the year, according to a report published by Bloomberg.

The impressive quarterly numbers were driven solely by March, which saw sales surge 263% in volume-terms, the news agency cited figures obtained under freedom of information legislation.

“We saw strong sales across all markets, but particularly from Germany and the U.K.,” Chris Howard, director of bullion for The Royal Mint, was quoted as saying. “We experienced strong demand for gold in physical products during the period, notably with our Britannia 1-ounce coin.”

Gold products being sold under the U.K. Royal Mint’s Signature Gold program, rose 178% in March, compared to a year ago.

The rise in demand comes as gold prices continue their surprise advance. The most recent rally has been driven by geopolitical uncertainty.

“All these relatively new presidential positions (i.e. jawboning the dollar lower, expressing support for the Fed and de-escalating tensions with China), coupled with the ratcheting up of tensions with North Korea, continue to buoy gold,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.

On Thursday, spot gold settled at $1,287.80 an ounce, after hitting $1,288.64 — the highest level since early November.