India's Silver imports see 15% jump in 2014

Author: Paul Ploumis27 Jan 2015 Last updated at 07:42:31 GMT

MUMBAI (Scrap Monster): According to the most recent data published by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S) under the Indian Customs Department, the Silver imports by the country surged higher by 15% during the entire year 2014. This is when compared with the previous year. However, the standalone import figure for the month of Dec ’14 declined sharply over the previous month.

According to the quick estimates provided by the Customs Department, the country’s Silver imports amounted to $182.31 million during Dec ’14. This equates to nearly 348 tonnes, sharply down by 72% when compared with the Nov ’14 Silver imports of 1,254 tonnes. The Silver import prices averaged at $16.3 per ounce during the month of December last year. The figures for the month of Dec ’14 are provisional and are subject to change. The official import figures will be announced later.

The Silver imports by the country during the entire year 2014 totaled 7,063 tonnes. The imports reported an increase of nearly 15% year-on-year when compared with the yearly imports of 6,125 tonnes during 2013.

The investment and jewelry demand for Silver has witnessed sharp jump during 2014. There was an obvious switch in demand from gold to Silver, mainly on account of bearish gold forecasts and anticipated pick up in Silver’s industrial usage demand.

The recent data published by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) indicates that the total Silver bar imports by the country in December 2014 amounted to INR 15.68 crores (USD 2.50 Million). The imports jumped higher by 9.73% over the previous year. However, the imports were marginally down by 0.3% when compared with Nov ’14.