UK still biggest importer of Swiss Gold during July

UNITED KINGDOM August 24 2016 6:21 PM     

LONDON (Scrap Register): Swiss  customs data show the country’s gold exports remained high last month and the  U.K. remains a notable importer, said Commerzbank.

Analysts cite data  showing that Switzerland exported 192 tons of gold in July, the most since  December. Only 37% was shipped to Asia.

“Although gold exports to China  and Hong Kong remained at the previous month’s level of 55.5 tons, they were  nonetheless nearly twice as high as at the same time last year,” said  Commerzbank.

“By contrast, gold exports to India fell both  month-on-month and year-on-year to 16.2 tons. The latter could be due among  other things to the high gold prices in India itself; they climbed for a time in  July to their highest level in nearly three years, which apparently led to  consumer reticence.”

As a result, Indian gold demand remains subdued in  the run-up to the autumn festival season, the bank added.

“By contrast,  Switzerland appears to have exported large amounts of gold once again to the  United Kingdom, where a number of gold ETFs (exchange-traded funds) store their  gold,” Commerzbank noted.