London (Platts)--21Jan2011/724 am EST/1224 GMT
Producers' net hedging activity swung back to the demand side of the market in the third quarter of 2010, with 2.16 million oz (67 mt) removed from the global book, analytics company GFMS and French Bank Societe Generale said late Thursday in the Q3 2010 Global Hedge Book Analysis report. This represented a cut of nearly a third of the book, which at end-September stood at 5.11 million oz (159 mt), the report said. AngloGold was the largest de-hedger, removing 1.73 million oz (54 mt) in the quarter as it initiated the hedge book termination. The most significant hedge came from Sumitomo Metal Mining, which (delta-adjusted) increased its collar options position by 0.13 million oz (4 mt). GFMS said that the marked-to-market liability of the producer book roughly halved to total a negative $1.81 billion in Q3. "With the remainder of AngloGold Ashanti's hedge position closed early in the fourth quarter, we forecast net de-hedging will push towards 4.65 million oz (145 mt) for the year," the report added. --Ben Kilbey, ben_kilbey@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Metals Week. See more information at http://bit.ly/MetalsWeek