Gold reserves in London vaults rise in March, says LBMA

LONDON (Reuters) - The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Monday that gold held in London vaults totalled 8,488 metric tons at the end of March, up 0.1% from the previous month, as outflows from London to New York slowed down after dislocation.

The most active Comex gold futures' premium over London spot prices narrowed last week after Washington excluded the precious metal from broader U.S. import tariffs.

Market players had increased gold deliveries to the U.S. to cover their Comex positions against the possibility of Washington imposing tariffs on imports of the metal in December-March.

Comex gold stocks are at record highs after rising by $80 billion since late November when U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.

The additional stocks came from Switzerland or London, the world's largest over-the-counter (OTC) gold trading hub, reducing liquidity in the London market.

This prompted a race among London bullion market players to borrow gold from central banks, which store their bullion in the Bank of England's vaults, and created a queue of those waiting for the metal to be delivered out.

"While stocks in the Bank of England declined by a similar pace to that seen in February, gold stocks in London's commercial vaults in fact increased again this month," LBMA said.

The waiting time to load gold out of the BoE vaults narrowed to 2-3 weeks in late March from 4-6 weeks in January, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last week. Gold lease rates in London returned closer to their normal levels in late March after a spike in January-February.

There were also 22,127 tons of silver held in March, down 1.5% from February, LBMA said. The outflow slowed from a 4.5% decline in February.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Tomasz Janowski and Susan Fenton)