According to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), gold stored in London vaults rose modestly to 8,488 metric tons at the end of March, a 0.1% increase from February. The slight gain follows a slowdown in shipments from London to New York after U.S. authorities decided not to include gold in broader import tariffs.
From December through March, market participants had sharply increased deliveries of gold to the United States to back positions on the Comex amid fears of possible tariffs that the U.S. administration had threatened for imports from Canada and Mexico. Those flows contributed to record-high Comex inventories, which climbed substantially since November as traders transferred metal to the exchange. The outflow from London — one of the world’s largest over-the-counter gold trading hubs — strained liquidity in the local market and prompted some bullion market participants to draw on central bank stocks held in Bank of England vaults.
Although holdings in Bank of England vaults continued to fall during March, commercial vault inventories in London actually rose, reflecting a rebalancing between official and private stores. Market conditions have gradually normalized: wait times for gold deliveries from Bank of England vaults eased from as long as four to six weeks in January to about two to three weeks by late March, and gold lease rates moved closer to normal levels. By contrast, silver kept falling in London, with stocks down about 1.5% in March after a sharper 4.5% decline in February.
Overall, the small uptick in London’s gold stocks and the easing of delivery delays suggest that the temporary dislocations caused by large transfers to the U.S. are subsiding. With direct tariff pressure on gold removed, flows have moderated and liquidity conditions in the London market have improved, although precious metals inventories continue to adjust between commercial vaults and official reserves.