By  Paul Ploumis 21 Jul 2015  Last updated at  07:48:07 GMT

MUMBAI (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics released by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) indicates considerable drop in Silver bar imports by the country during the month of June this year. The country’s Silver bar imports during the month plunged sharply by nearly 23% upon comparison with the imports during the same month the year before. This is in accordance with the latest trade data published by the apex trade body.

The GJEPC data indicates that the total Silver bar imports by the country in June 2015 amounted to INR 10.72 crores (USD 1.68 Million). In rupee terms, the Silver bar imports have dropped by 22.49%. The fall in dollar terms stood at 27.6%. It must be noted that the country’s Silver bar imports during June 2014 had totaled INR 13.83 crores (USD 2.32 Million).

The cumulative silver bar imports during the initial quarter of the current fiscal year totaled INR 51.41 crores (USD 8.14 Million), considerably higher when compared with the imports of INR 43.23 crores (USD 7.24 Million) during April-June ‘14.

However, silver bar imports by the country in June this year rose sharply when compared with the previous month. The imports were up by nearly 35% over the previous month. The country’s Silver bar imports had totaled INR 7.97 crores (USD 1.25 Million) during May 2015.

According to GJEPC, the Silver jewellery imports by the country during June this year witnessed huge decline when matched with the previous year. The country’s Silver jewellery imports during the month totaled INR 16.15 crores (USD 2.53 Million). During same month a year before, the country had imported Silver jewellery worth INR 43.90 crores (USD 7.35 Million).

The GJEPC, set up by the by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India in 1966 is the apex body of the gems & jewellery industry. Headquartered in Mumbai, the industry body represents almost 6,000 exporters in the sector.