Fed does not want to lower interest
The reason for the current price jump from Monday to Tuesday was one Attack from Trump On Jerome Powell, the head of the US Federal Reserve Fed. Because this one Interest charges Not reducing it to the desired extent, he is folded down by the US President as “Mr. too late” and “big loose”. Powell does not want to reduce the key interest rate due to Trump’s customs circuit for the time being.
Because of the aggressive US customs policy and the Fear of a trade war And the gold price has been increasing a global recession for a few weeks even more than before. For all those companies that need gold as a raw material, this is one bad news. First and foremost, these are jewelry manufacturers, but many companies in the electronics industry are also affected.
Indispensable material for electronics components
Gold is indispensable for them in many areas due to its physical properties. The precious metal guides Electricity and heat Particularly good, can be processed easily and is corrosion -resistant. It is often for Wire connections, memory chips and LED lights Used and placed in smartphones, laptops and many other, widespread products.
The quantities used in every product are tiny, but demand increases. According to the gold producer association World Gold Council, there was one in the 2024 electronics sector 9 percent increase. This is partly due to the Boom around artificial intelligence.
“Whoever needs it now is in the clamp”
For companies that need gold as a raw material, it is currently particularly important to sophisticated procurement strategy To have, says Michael Zillner, Managing Director of the consulting company Merit. “Most of the time, companies have supply chains and have pre -ordered at less high prices. But if you need gold for your production, you are in the term.” With precious metals it is important To secure risks (hedging).
Price fluctuations always occur, even with other metals such as nickel. Substituting certain materials by others is often impossible. You have to Convert production processeswhat could take years. Also the Financial support of gold increasewould take a lot of time. Gold is recycled because of its value anyway.
High production costs as an additional challenge
“The increased To pass on prices on the marketis one in an already economically very tense situation additional challenge“, says Marion Mitsch, managing director of the specialist association of the electrical and electronics industry (Feei). It is all the more important to take the production costs into account in the current collective agreement negotiations and to proceed with a sense of proportion in order not to further weaken the competitiveness.
InfineonThe largest electronics company in Austria, which is calculated after sales, participated in the KURIER request that a variety of raw materials are used in microchip production. Price fluctuations in precious metals step again and again on. Infineon therefore relies on long -term delivery contracts and a various supplier network. So you want your own Resistance increase.
More expensive satellite components
The space company also needs gold as a raw material Beyond Gravity Austria For its products – among other things for navigation recipients for the exact position of satellites. The gold price has increased noticeably since the beginning of the Russian attack war on Ukraine in 2022. The Product prices had to increased become. But that is not due to the gold price alone. Be more serious geopolitical fault in the supply chain.
Unclear where the journey is going
How much will the gold price increase? With this question, even experienced analysts sweat. The two US banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan forecast an increase to $ 3,000 to $ 3,100 per ounce in February. They did not suspect that $ 3,500 will be reached in April.