Thursday 22 September 2011
To keep it in safetydeposit boxes at banks or vaults(GOLD)
Deep in the 7.4-acre Singapore FreePort next to Changi International Airport's runways is the bullion vault of Swiss Precious Metals, behind seven-metric-ton steel doors built to survive a plane crash or earthquake.
The rooms are almost full after demand rose five-fold in the year since the Geneva-based company opened the facility. The firm plans an extension, and relocated Chief Executive Officer Jean-Francois Pages to Singapore last month to cope with the surge of investors willing to pay as much as 1% of the value of their holdings each year to keep them secure.
"The European debt crisis and its impact on the solvency of European financial players are driving European customers to find refuge in tangible values like physical gold and other precious metals," Pages said. Demand "is totally compatible with the current financial and political global turmoil."
Barclays Capital is building a new vault, The Brink's Co. and Deutsche Bank AG may add more space, and the Perth Mint may expand for the first time since 2003, a sign they expect demand to keep increasing after the 11-year rally during which prices increased sevenfold. Investors in exchange-traded products backed by gold bought 2,198 tons of bullion since 2003, exceeding all except four countries' official stockpiles.
Storage companies are responding. The 112-year-old Perth Mint, which refines more than 8% of all supply and is owned by the Western Australian state, may add a new vault within the next year, according to Treasurer Nigel Moffatt. The mint sells everything from gold coins to 400-ounce (12.4-kg) bars.
Brink's, the largest bullion carrier in the UK, is considering adding more storage after opening a new London vault earlier this year. Barclays, based in London, is building a vault in the city that will open next year, the bank said in a statement last week.
Deutsche Bank, based in Frankfurt, is considering expanding existing facilities and developing new ones to meet demand, Matthew Keen, a director at the bank, said earlier this month. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started a vault at the Singapore FreePort location last year and opened another in New York.
"With gold prices where they are, we encourage people to keep it in safetydeposit boxes at banks or vaults, which gives that sense of security," said Scott Carter, CEO of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, California-based precious-metals retailer. Gold bought for investment accounted for 38% of total demand in 2010, compared with about 4% a decade before, the World Gold Council estimates.
The rooms are almost full after demand rose five-fold in the year since the Geneva-based company opened the facility. The firm plans an extension, and relocated Chief Executive Officer Jean-Francois Pages to Singapore last month to cope with the surge of investors willing to pay as much as 1% of the value of their holdings each year to keep them secure.
"The European debt crisis and its impact on the solvency of European financial players are driving European customers to find refuge in tangible values like physical gold and other precious metals," Pages said. Demand "is totally compatible with the current financial and political global turmoil."
Barclays Capital is building a new vault, The Brink's Co. and Deutsche Bank AG may add more space, and the Perth Mint may expand for the first time since 2003, a sign they expect demand to keep increasing after the 11-year rally during which prices increased sevenfold. Investors in exchange-traded products backed by gold bought 2,198 tons of bullion since 2003, exceeding all except four countries' official stockpiles.
Storage companies are responding. The 112-year-old Perth Mint, which refines more than 8% of all supply and is owned by the Western Australian state, may add a new vault within the next year, according to Treasurer Nigel Moffatt. The mint sells everything from gold coins to 400-ounce (12.4-kg) bars.
Brink's, the largest bullion carrier in the UK, is considering adding more storage after opening a new London vault earlier this year. Barclays, based in London, is building a vault in the city that will open next year, the bank said in a statement last week.
Deutsche Bank, based in Frankfurt, is considering expanding existing facilities and developing new ones to meet demand, Matthew Keen, a director at the bank, said earlier this month. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started a vault at the Singapore FreePort location last year and opened another in New York.
"With gold prices where they are, we encourage people to keep it in safetydeposit boxes at banks or vaults, which gives that sense of security," said Scott Carter, CEO of Goldline International Inc., a Santa Monica, California-based precious-metals retailer. Gold bought for investment accounted for 38% of total demand in 2010, compared with about 4% a decade before, the World Gold Council estimates.
