Swiss Gold Over the Top, exports hit record in 2016

Switzerland's gold exports to China surged to their highest on record in December at 158 tonnes, data from the Swiss customs bureau showed on Thursday, nearly triple the level of the same month a year earlier.

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 10.8bn), their highest since May 2013 in December, according to data on the website of the Swiss Federal Customs Administration.

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.

Shipments to India however dropped to their lowest since July last month, at 20.6 tonnes, while exports to Hong Kong were at a three-month low of 38 tonnes.

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.

However, the biggest destination for Swiss gold exports last year was Britain, where heavy inflows were seen into gold-backed exchange-traded funds early in the year. The UK shipped in 488.6 tonnes of gold from Switzerland last year.