Vietnam became Switzerland’s single largest source of imported gold products since 2009, the Financial Times reported this week.

Vietnamese traders boosted jewelryexports to “circumvent government restrictions on bullion exports.” Thefirms exported nearly 61 tons of precious metals – mostly gold products –to Switzerland, generating US$2.8 billion, according to the Financial Times.

The report said Vietnam exported billions of dollars worth of high-grade gold to the European nation; most of the products ended up in furnaces operated by leading refiners Argor-Heraeus, MKS Finance and Valcambi.

Vietnamese traders do not regularly export gold, but they will when local prices dip below global rates.