Swiss Gold Exports Rise in November on Jump in Supplies to India

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Gold exports from Switzerland rose in November due to a jump in supplies to India and some revival of deliveries to China and Hong Kong compared with October, Swiss customs data showed on Thursday.

India, the world's second-largest gold gold consumer and a major importer, is re-examining a surge in gold imports that widened the country's trade deficit to a record in November and pushed the rupee to an all-time low, government sources told Reuters earlier this week.

Bloomberg News reported that officials probably double-counted gold shipments in warehouses following a change in methodology, leading to a calculation error, where gold imports could have been overestimated by as much as 50 metric tons, or almost 30% of India's November total gold imports.

Even if India's total gold imports were miscalculated, exports from Switzerland to India surged to 52.7 tons in November from 11.7 tons in October, indicating very strong demand from buyers ramping up inventories amid November's 3.3%-fall in spot gold prices.

Switzerland is the world's biggest bullion refining and transit hub.

India's domestic demand is expected to slow from mid-December to mid-January, considered an inauspicious period for holding weddings and purchasing gold in the Hindu calendar, the World Gold Council said in a research note on Thursday.

Courtesy: www.miningweekly.com