Perth Mint’s September gold, silver sales rebound as prices decline

       Oct 5 (Reuters) - Perth Mint's gold sales rebounded in
September, the refiner said on Thursday, with silver sales
climbing to their highest since June as a drop in prices offered
investors an opportunity to buy the precious metals at lower
costs.
    Monthly sales of gold coins and minted bars edged up to
36,530 ounces last month from 34,875 ounces in August, but were
down about 59% on a year-on-year basis.
    Sales of silver products jumped to 1,116,779 ounces in
September, up 41% on a monthly basis, while down 57% on a yearly
basis.
    "Despite slower overall market conditions, there was an
upsurge in interest for 2oz denominated silver coins. A more
unusual size, we delivered almost 550,000 pieces to clients in
the United States," said Neil Vance, general manager for minted
products.
    Benchmark spot gold prices, trading close to 7-month
lows this week, dropped 4.7% in September as the U.S. Federal
Reserve struck a hawkish tone on interest rates, boosting the
dollar and Treasury yields.
    Spot silver prices dropped 9.3% last month, its
biggest monthly fall since February.
    The Perth Mint, owned by the government of Western
Australia, is the world's largest producer of newly mined gold.
It is also the biggest refiner by volume in Australasia,
according to the company website.
    Its intake each year equates to almost 75% of newly mined
gold in Australia, one of the world's biggest gold producers.
    The following table details Perth Mint's monthly sales
including coins and minted bars:
    
            Period           Gold (oz)       Silver (oz)
      (year-month)                      
                                        
  2023- Sept             36,530           1,116,779 
                                        
       2023-August              34,875           792,503
         2023-July              44,009           863,485
                                                        
         2023-June              73,124         1,326,011
          2023-May              72,889         1,881,001
        2023-April              75,166         1,947,743
        2023-March              80,541         1,823,096
          2023-Feb              52,241         1,484,936
          2023-Jan              64,395         1,233,344
          2022-Dec              60,634         1,634,751
          2022-Nov             114,304         1,315,293
          2022-Oct             183,102         1,995,350
                                                        
         2022-Sept              88,554         2,579,941
                                                        
          2022-Aug              84,976         1,655,334
         2022-July              79,305         2,465,513
         2022-June              65,281         1,523,765
          2022-May              98,515         2,217,582
        2022-April              80,941         2,119,491
        2022-March             121,997         1,649,634
          2022-Feb              72,651         1,632,323
          2022-Jan              66,709         2,387,165
          2021-Dec              54,861         1,733,293
          2021-Nov             115,872         1,530,598
          2021-Oct              59,750         1,352,275
         2021-Sept              98,753         1,789,926
       2021-August              53,976         1,467,229
         2021-July              70,658         1,302,723
         2021-June              72,910         1,823,029
          2021-May              91,146         1,700,807
        2021-April             101,379         1,798,210
        2021-March             130,000         1,600,000
          2021-Feb             124,104         1,830,707
          2021-Jan              76,103         1,162,884
          2020-Dec              76,806           941,767
          2020-Nov              84,158         1,119,269
          2020-Oct              38,367         1,228,713
         2020-Sept              62,637         1,677,383
          2020-Aug              67,462         1,431,036
         2020-July              56,104         1,567,900
         2020-June              44,371         1,573,752
          2020-May              63,393           997,171
        2020-April             120,504         2,123,121
        2020-March              93,775         1,736,409
          2020-Feb              22,921           605,634
          2020-Jan              48,299         1,450,317
          2019-Dec              78,912         1,361,723
          2019-Nov              54,261         1,027,695
          2019-Oct              32,469         1,394,615
         2019-Sept              46,837         1,350,038
          2019-Aug              21,766         1,171,233
         2019-July              21,518           987,040
         2019-June              19,449           344,474
          2019-May              10,790           681,582
        2019-April              19,991           906,219
        2019-March              32,757           935,819
          2019-Feb              19,524           584,310
          2019-Jan              31,189           828,854
          2018-Dec              29,186           692,971
          2018-Nov              64,308           876,446
          2018-Oct              36,840         1,079,684
         2018-Sept              62,552         1,305,600
          2018-Aug              38,904           520,245
         2018-July              29,921           486,821
         2018-June              16,847           229,280
          2018-May              14,800           557,120
        2018-April              15,161           458,655
        2018-March              29,883           975,921
          2018-Feb              26,473           992,954
          2018-Jan              37,174         1,067,361
          2017-Dec              27,009           874,437
          2017-Nov              23,901           544,436
          2017-Oct              44,618           999,425
         2017-Sept              46,415           697,849
          2017-Aug              23,130           392,091
         2017-July              23,675         1,167,963
         2017-June              19,259         1,215,071
          2017-May              29,679           826,656
        2017-April              10,490           468,977
        2017-March              22,232           716,283
          2017-Feb              25,257           502,353
          2017-Jan              72,745         1,230,867
 
 (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sohini Goswami)