Friday, January 21, 2011

Gold Miners De-Hedge In A Big Way In Third Quarter

After a slight blip-up in net hedging in the second quarter of last year, gold miners have swung over to serious de-hedging in the third quarter.
Gold miners in the third quarter removed hedges by buying back 2.16 million ounces of their forward sales, leaving the global gold hedge book at 5.11 million ounces at the end of September, the report said.

In the second quarter, the GFMS/SocGen report showed, the global hedge book increased 160,000 ounces on a net basis, largely due to increased forward sales by smaller gold producers....

The report said the volume of de-hedging is expected to total 4.65 million ounces for the year as the remainder of AngloGold Ashanti's hedge position closed early in the fourth quarter.

Given that gold was barely above $1,300 at the end of the third quarter, that de-hedging was a smart move. But, prices were rising at a steady clip through most of that quarter. The de-hedging suggests gold miners are still followers of the gold price.

Despite that qualm, gold is still up from Sep. 30's price even now. The benefit was greater when gold sailed above $1,400.

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