Swiss March gold exports down 27% m/m as deliveries to US fall

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Gold exports from Switzerland fell by 27% month on month in March as outflows to New York slowed down following a surge in transfers to the U.S. in previous months, Swiss customs data showed on Thursday.

Switzerland is the world's biggest bullion refining and transit hub alongside Britain, which is home to the world's largest over-the-counter gold trading hub.

Driving the deliveries to the U.S. were market players seeking to cover their Comex positions against the possibility of Washington imposing tariffs on imports of the metal.

This risk was removed in early April as Washington excluded gold and other precious metals from President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs.

According to the Swiss data, gold exports to the U.S. fell to 103.2 metric tons in March from 152.4 tons in February.

As spot gold prices have kept scaling record highs due to geopolitical and economic uncertainties, demand in traditional gold-consuming Asian markets - India and China - in March was down sharply from a year ago but up from February, the data showed. GOL/ GOL/AS

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

* Source: Swiss customs. Data subject to revision.