It was a case of lights, camera, action at The Perth Mint this morning as leading figures from Western Australia’s business community gathered to report on the State’s economic fortunes live on Channel 9.
Among the guests joining Today Perth News host Tracy Vo was Richard Hayes, CEO of The Perth Mint, who was invited to discuss the current strength of demand for Australian gold.
Mr Hayes said that The Perth Mint, which refines more than 90% of Australia’s annual gold mine output, was currently experiencing strong demand from China, the world’s leading destination for Australian gold exports.
“To give you some idea how that has increased in recent times, in 2011 we exported about 100 tonnes of gold to China,” he said. “Last year we did 230 tonnes of gold to China.”
“Our export numbers are about AUD17 to 18 billion a year and last year AUD11 billion went to China,” he said.
Richard Hayes, CEO of The Perth Mint, with Channel 9 interviewer Tracy Vo during today's live broadcast.
Mr Hayes added that investment was also fuelling demand for gold. Historically, demand for gold has increased at times of international crisis and upheaval.
“As people are looking to diversify their asset portfolios… gold is increasingly a commodity in which they are storing a portion of their wealth.”
“If you look at the world today… at geo-political instability, China, Russia, North Korea, what’s happening in the Middle East, gold is and always has been that ultimate store of wealth,” he said.
Others taking part in Channel 9’s business special from The Perth Mint’s gold exhibition were REIWA’s Hayden Groves; property valuer Gavin Hegney; Andrew Tomich of Hudson Recruiting; financial planner David Sharpe; James McGlew from Argonaut Securities; and Phil Thick from Tianqi Lithium.
