OREANDA-NEWS. March 25, 2015. Weak prices for gold will increase the amount of the precious metal that is made into jewelry, coins and other items by more than 4 percent in 2015, while values are expected to struggle to move higher, CPM Group said on Tuesday.

The fabrication of gold, which involves manufacturing the yellow metal into semi-finished or final products, is forecast to rise to 96.9 million ounces in 2015, New York-based CPM Group said in its "Gold Yearbook 2015."

That is up from 93 million ounces in 2014, due to softer prices and the base formation at a relatively low level, said CPM, a commodities market research, consulting and advisory firm. Total supply was pegged at 129.9 million ounces in 2015, up 2.5 percent from 2014, marking the second straight annual rise.

"Gold prices may weaken based on investors' likely negative views toward gold and commodities in the face of imminent US interest rate increases," CPM wrote.

"Such speculation could drive gold prices to their lows for the year. Prices are likely to recover from such losses relatively quickly, however," it said.

Investor purchases will fall to 26.9 million ounces in 2015, from 28.1 million ounces on a net basis last year, CPM forecast.

"Investors are expected to be buyers of gold for a variety of reasons from currency market volatility, to a hedge against political and longer-term macroeconomic problems," it said.