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In Gujarat, silver imports break 5-year record, gold still sliding |
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AHMEDABAD: Economic slowdown, restrictions on gold imports and change in customer preferences have spurred record growth in silver imports. According to the latest imports data available, silver imports crossed 1,500 metric tonne (MT) in the period from April 2013 to January 2014, a record high in the last five years for April-January period. The last high was recorded in April 2008 to January 2009 when silver imports were 1,497 MT.
According to the latest figures, 1,526 MT of silver were imported from April 2013 to January 2014 compared to 276 MT in 2012-13, recording growth of 452.48%. On the flipside, in January, imports of silver were down by more than 60% at 41.57 MT compared to 101.56 MT in January 2013 due to the recent increase in the import duty on silver.
Experts believe that restrictions on gold and increased industrial usage of silver have led to the rise in demand of silver. "Since the import duty on gold has been high, bullion traders preferred silver. Against 10g of gold, import duty on 1kg of silver was low which led to more interest in white metal," said Samir Mankad, director, Gujarat State Cargo Exports Ltd (GSECL).
"There has been an increase in demand of silver for industrial purpose, especially in electronics and atomic industries. Also, silver is used in manufacturing of components for medical purpose," said Girish Choksi, a city-based bullion trader.
Citing the reason for decline in silver imports in the last month, Choksi said, "To bring silver imports in control, the central government increased import duty on silver to 15% per kg from Rs 1,500/kg a few weeks back, bringing at par with gold".
The record silver imports in 2013-14 is also due to the fact that over 500 MT of silver had been imported until June 2013 before restrictions came into effect. "The customers have reconciled to the fact that gold is going to remain out of reach for some time and so they are moving towards silver," added Choksi.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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