https://www.bloombergquint.com/
Australia’s largest gold refinery has ramped up production of one kilogram bars to ease the supply squeeze in the U.S. that helped propel a surge in the premium for New York futures.
The collapse in air travel that’s grounded passenger jets — frequently used to transport gold products — and virus-related disruptions to some refining capacity has tightened availability of the rectangular bars, typically used to settle the Comex futures contracts.
“We’re producing as many kilobars as we can, we’re probably churning out seven and a half tonnes of them a week at the moment and we are forward sold well into May,” Richard Hayes, chief executive officer of the Perth Mint, said in an interview.
“A very large portion of those kilobars are ending up as Comex deliveries.”
In a chaotic couple of days in late March, the premium for New York futures over the London spot price rose above $70 — the highest in four decades.
For the rest of this article: https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/gold-bars-heading-11-000-miles-to-new-york-in-supply-squeeze