Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Rand Refinery Ltd., the world's largest gold refinery, ran out of South African Krugerrands after an "unusually large" order from a buyer in Switzerland.

The order was for 5,000 ounces and it will take until Sept. 3 for inventories to be replenished, said Johan Botha, a spokesman for Rand Refinery in Germiston, east of Johannesburg. He declined to identify the buyer.

Coins and bars of precious metals are attracting investors as a haven against a sliding dollar and conflict between Russia and its neighbor Georgia. The U.S. Mint suspended sales of one-ounce "American Eagle" gold coins, Johnson Matthey Plc stopped taking orders for 100-ounce silver bars at its Salt Lake City refinery and Heraeus Holding GmbH has a delivery waiting list of as long as two weeks for orders of gold bars in Europe.

"A lot of people are worried about the dollar, they're worried about inflation and now we have geopolitical risk with what's happening in Russia," said Mark O'Byrne, managing director of brokerage Gold and Silver Investments Ltd. in Dublin. O'Byrne said his company's sales are up fourfold this year, heading for a record since its founding in 2003.

Full story at Bloomberg.com.

Goldmau.com comment:

Mere coincidence, or is this a sign of a pattern starting to form? Retail demand for gold at current prices continues to outstrip supply, which even a first-year university student can tell you, should be leading to higher prices.

The stalling of the gold price in the low $800 range means there is another force at work. Goldmau's John Lee cited Federal shorting of gold on the COMEX as a possible explanation in an article written earlier this week. If recent history is any lesson, we may see the usual drop on the gold price this Monday afternoon, followed by a slow rebound over the course of the week. Every time a retail shortage like those we've seen this week continue to make news, you can add another data point to the argument that the price of gold is not being allowed to move in a free market.

Commentary courtesy Rory Johnston, Goldmau.com analyst.

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