Raw materials, cereals and metals have skyrocketed since the invasion of Ukraine and gold, in addition to acting as a secure investment due to the conflict, behaves as an active refuge against inflation.
The ounce of gold is exchanged for 2,070 dollars with a rise of 10 percent since the beginning of the year the work of the traders of the yellow metal is incessant to cover the demand for orders.
One of these merchants, according to Bloomberg, is Rudolf Brenner, founder of Philoro Edelmetalle GmbH, with stores in Europe where buyers crowd in long queues that increase as the armed struggle intensifies.
Jewelry dealers want gold as payment
“When the crisis started in Ukraine, massive orders began and sales are tripling because people are buying everything,” says Brenner.
The same is true across the Atlantic in New York at Empire Gold Buyers, where CEO Gene Furman says 50 percent of his customers who deal in luxury items like watches and jewelry want bullion. gold instead of cash.
Gregor Gregersen, the founder of Silver Bullion Pte Ltd, in Singapore, saw gold and silver sales jump 235 percent in the first week after the Russian invasion, and demand has intensified ever since.
Premiums rise due to shortage
“Investors are thinking about the worst scenario for the war in Ukraine and it seems prudent to them to buy safe-haven physical assets in a safe jurisdiction like Singapore”, considers Gregersen.
The current clamor for physical gold is causing a shortage and to grab one-ounce bullion, buyers could have to shell out up to $100 above the spot price.
On the other hand, premiums are up 25 percent on the physical bullion broker and are expected to continue rising strongly.
The surge in demand comes after a year in which purchases of physical metals, especially in Western countries, hit 1,124 tonnes in 2021, according to the World Gold Council, the highest in nearly a decade.
