London is in the grips of a gold shortage as traders line up for weeks to get bars out of the Bank of England and ship them to the U.S. amid fears that the new Trump administration will levy tariffs on imports.
Gold inventories in New York are on a path to levels last seen at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with stockpiles in the city hitting $82 billion.
In addition to safeguarding the U.K.’s gold reserves, the Bank of England acts as a holder of commercial gold owned by banks and for other countries and central banks. The gold bars are kept in nine underground vaults at the bank, located in the City of London.
Both the Financial Times and Reuters reported that waiting times had soared for clients to retrieve this gold, and the data would suggest it’s on a fast track to New York.
Much of gold trading is frictionless and involves the owner of a bar of gold changing hands on the holder’s systems.
But in some instances, traders must deliver physical gold to fulfill some of their futures contracts. Fears around Trump’s rhetoric have accordingly sparked an influx of gold to the U.S. in case monetary metals become subject to tariffs.
Since Trump’s November election victory, traders have moved 393 metric tonnes of gold into the Comex commodity exchange in New York.
Waiting times spike
Sources told Reuters that waiting times to retrieve gold had spiked from between a few days and a week to four weeks. A person with knowledge of the matter told the FT waiting times were perhaps double that at up to eight weeks.
“People can’t get their hands on gold because so much has been shipped to New York, and the rest is stuck in the queue,” an unnamed industry executive told the FT. “Liquidity in the London market has been diminished.”
A representative for the bank didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Data from the BoE shows the bank’s gold inventory began to experience a downward curve between November and the most recent data point in December.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey dismissed worries over reports of a London Gold exodus, saying that would have been different 100 years ago when the U.K. was on the gold standard.
“London remains the major gold market in the world. If you are involved in that market and want to trade or use your gold, you really need to have it in London,” BoE governor Andrew Bailey told the U.K.’s Treasury Committee.
While Bailey’s comments moved to soften concerns over the flow of free-float gold out of the U.K., it underlines behavioral changes exhibited by investors and businesses since Trump took office.
European automakers have discussed options to move production to the U.S., either through reallocating delivery hubs or investing in new plants in the country to avoid import tariffs. European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde has suggested that the EU should buy more U.S. oil and gas to avoid a costly trade war with the country.
