Silver Slump Seen Luring Buyers as Wait Time Rises in Singapore
The slump in silver this month has spurred demand for products from Silver Bullion Pte, one of Singapore’s largest suppliers of coins and bars to retail investors, depleting inventories and doubling delivery times.
Holdings of bars fell to 54 ounces from 60,000 ounces two and a half weeks ago, according to founder Gregor Gregersen. It now takes at least six weeks for new supplies to arrive in the city-state up from two to three weeks previously, he said. The company, set up in 2009, counts the Perth Mint in Australia and the Royal Canadian Mint among its suppliers.
Gregersen’s comments add to signs from across Asia that the plunge in silver, as well as gold, has triggered higher demand from physical buyers who see an opportunity to expand holdings. While silver has led declines in commodities this year, losing 20 percent in New York, the amount held in exchange-traded products worldwide remains 2.3 percent higher in 2013. The metal is used both as an investment as well as by industry.
“For many leveraged paper owners, this price fall was a disaster, for most physical bullion owners it was a buying opportunity,” Gregersen said. A batch of 23,000 ounces is expected to be delivered tomorrow, with almost all destined for existing customers who pre-ordered, he said.
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