Switzerland’s Gold Exports To China Surge To 158 Tons In December

Switzerland’s gold bullion exports to China saw a huge jump in December, climbing to 158 tons versus a much lower 30.6 tons in November…a jump of 416%.

According to Eddie van der Walt as reported on the Bloomberg terminal this morning, total Swiss gold exports surged to 287.6 tons in December (valued at CHF 10.8b) according to data on the website of the Swiss Federal Customs Administration.

Switzerland’s gold exports had already been very robust in November coming in at 191.4 tons. This means that total Swiss gold exports rose by over 50% from November to December due to global and particularly Chinese demand. Another indication of this global gold demand is that Swiss gold imports increased to 323.6 tons vs 220.5 tons – likely due to refinery demand and investors opting to store gold in Switzerland.

There was increased demand from China ahead of the Chinese New Year and due to concerns about the continuing devaluation of the yuan. This accounts for much of the rise but uncertainty regarding the election of President Trump may also have contributed to the strong rise in Swiss gold exports.

Gold exports to China in December “were the highest since at least January 2014” according to Bloomberg. Most of the exports to China are in the form of investment grade gold bars in the one kilogramme gold bar format which is used by Chinese investors, institutions, exchange traded funds (ETF) and indeed the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

Gold “exports to India dropped to 20.6 tons vs 63.2 tons in November and shipments to Hong Kong fell to 38 tons vs 45.8 tons.”

Gold bullion imports from the U.K. jumped to 148 tons vs 48.4 tons meaning that Swiss gold imports from the U.K. “were the highest since December 2015.” The London gold market continues to see outflows as gold continues to move from the London gold market to strong hands in China via the Swiss refineries. There are also flows to retail and high net worth investors including companies and family offices choosing to store gold in Switzerland and other safer jurisdictions.