Loading ...Miners’ gold forward sales surged 103t last year, most since 1999 – report
LONDON – The volume of gold sold forward by mining companies rose by 103 t last year, the biggest annual increase since 1999, an industry report showed on Friday.
That far outstrips an estimate given late last year of 42 t to 52 t, after Mexican gold and silver miner Fresnillo said it was hedging 47 tonnes of output over five years.
In their quarterly Global Hedge Book Analysis, Societe Generale and GFMS analysts at Thomson Reuters said the bulk of the rise in the global gold hedge book last year was driven by Fresnillo and Russia’s Polyus Gold, which announced a major hedging deal in July.
“Of the growth in the book in 2014, the majority (85 t) came from these two companies. Together they now account for half of the outstanding global hedging,” the report said.
“What was also notable in the fourth quarter, and to a greater extent the year as a whole, was the rebalancing of the hedge book towards option contracts, rather than being dominated by forward sales,” the report added. “The two largest hedgers, Polyus Gold International and Fresnillo, were two examples to employ such structures.”