Swiss December gold exports to the US reach highest since March 2022

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold exports from Switzerland rose year on year in December as supplies to the United States soared to the highest since March 2022 and offset lower deliveries to top consumer China, Swiss customs data showed on Thursday.

Switzerland, the world's biggest bullion refining and transit hub, along with Britain, home to the world's largest over-the-counter gold trading hub, saw a surge in gold transfers to the U.S. as market players sought to hedge against the possibility of U.S. import tariffs from President Donald Trump.

Over the last two months, 12.9 million troy ounces (401 metric tons) of gold were delivered to COMEX-approved warehouses, raising stocks there by 73.5% to 30.4 million ounces, the highest since July 2022.

According to the Swiss data, gold deliveries from the country to the U.S. rose to 64.2 tons in December from 3.3 tons in the last month of 2023. In March 2022, when global markets were grappling with immediate consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Switzerland exported 81.5 tons of gold to the U.S.

Swiss total gold exports and supplies to key markets* (in kgs):

December 2024 November 2024 December 2023

Total trade: 123,424 129,214 107,879

- China 4,000 15,704 33,125

- Emirates, Arab 5,569 7,710 6,902

- France 1,645 5,488 5,816

- Germany 1,557 2,189 1,180

- Hong Kong 2,102 2,267 6,500

- India 8,975 52,687 8,106

- Italy 2,952 4,482 1,296

- Saudi Arabia 5,775 6,039 3,950

- Thailand 0 6,550 1,970

- Turkey 9,183 10,751 8,118

- United Kingdom 14,421 1,062 23,870

- USA 64,247 5,826 3,314

* Source: Swiss customs. Data subject to revision.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt.; Editing by Mark Potter)