LONDON: Switzerland’s raw palladium imports fell to their lowest since December 2008 last month, data from the Swiss customs bureau showed on Tuesday, pushing its net exports of the metal to their highest in a year.
Shipments of the autocatalyst metal dried up from the United Kingdom and the United States, where stocks of the metal are stored to back exchange-traded funds, and from major producer
Russia, whose exports to Switzerland in recent years have been patchy. Exports of palladium in both raw and semi-finished form stood at 1,328 kilograms last month, down from the previous month and from September 2014. Its exports net of imports reached 1,031 kg.
South Korea and Hong Kong imported the most material from Switzerland, with shipments of 339 kg and 237 kg, respectively.
Switzerland became a net importer of platinum last month, meanwhile, after a rise in imports of raw platinum from major producers Russia and South Africa and an increase in shipments of semi-finished metal to Italy.
