With the unprecedented shortage in physical metal last month, Swiss gold exports to the United States skyrocketed to 111.7 tons in April which was the biggest monthly total on record while shipments to other destinations diminished.
The global gold market has been turned on its head due to the coronavirus, central banks around the world continue to do record amounts of quantitative easing, led by the Federal Reserve. This is causing a rush of western investors to buy bullion as a hedge against financial turmoil.
Switzerland, a major trading, vaulting and refining center for precious metals, exported a total of 131.8 tons of gold in April, up from 96.2 tons in March but slightly lower than in April 2019.
The United States, which typically imports less than a ton of gold a month from Switzerland, accounted for 85% of that total.
Switzerland meanwhile shipped 500 kgs (0.5 tons) of gold to India, 1 kg to Hong Kong and no gold at all to China in April. Each of these destinations usually receive tens of tons of metal from Switzerland each month.
