Rand Refinery Ltd., the world’s largest gold refinery, has doubled weekly production of blank gold coins to 20,000 ounces as demand for the South African Gold Krugerrand rose to the highest level in 23 years.
This surge in demand can be directly ascribed to a combination of fear in world economies and over future inflation in the U.S. dollar.
“Record stock market lows are translating into record highs for gold and Krugerrands,” Alan Demby, chairman of the South African Gold Coin Exchange, said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg last week. Investors are “piling into Krugerrands and Nelson Mandela gold medallions,” he said.
Gold was the best-performing metal in 2008 and prices have already increased over 12% for the year.
Rand Refinery has manufactured, marketed and delivered more than 46 million ounces of South African Gold Krugerrands since the gold coin was introduced in 1967, according to the company’s Web site.
– luke
