GJEPC: India's gold bar imports end 2016 on a high note

By Anil Mathews

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster):  The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has released the details of imports and exports of raw materials for gems and jewellery for the month of December last year.

Gold Bar Imports

According to GJEPC data, the gold bar imports by the country during the month recorded significant jump when matched with the previous year.

The monthly import statistics indicate that the total gold bar imports by the country during December ‘16 amounted to Rs 2,483.97 crores (USD 365.83 Million). In rupee terms, the gold bar imports have increased by more than 12% over the year. The rise in dollar terms stood at nearly 10%. It must be noted that the country’s gold bar imports during December 2015 were valued at Rs 2,217.46 crores (USD 332.95 Million).

The December ’16 gold bar imports have jumped higher significantly when compared with the imports during the month before. The country’s gold bar imports had totaled Rs 1,148.19 crores (USD 169.78 Million) in November last year.

The cumulative gold bar imports by the country during the initial nine months (Apr ’16 to Dec ’16) of the current fiscal year surged higher by 28.31% in rupee terms from Rs 18,307.71 crores (USD 2,826.93 Million) during April to December in 2015 to Rs 23,670.04 crores (USD 3,530.40 Million).

Silver Bar Imports

The GJEPC figures suggest significant decline in Silver bar imports by the country during the month of December last year. The country’s Silver bar imports during the month have dropped by 6.4% upon comparison with the imports during the same month the year before.

The total Silver bar imports by the country in December 2016 amounted to INR 17.62 crores (USD 2.59 Million). In rupee terms, the Silver bar imports have dropped considerably by over 6% when matched with the previous year. The decline in dollar terms stood at 8.5%. It must be noted that the country’s Silver bar imports during December 2015 had totaled INR 18.83 crores (USD 2.83 Million).

Also, silver bar imports by the country in December last year witnessed modest decline when compared with the previous month. The imports were down by over 9.5% when compared with the previous month. The country’s Silver bar imports had totaled INR 19.47 crores (USD 2.88 Million) during November 2016.

The silver bar imports during the nine-month period from April to December this fiscal year totaled INR 272.13 crores (USD 40.60 Million)

Jewellery Imports

The imports of gold jewellery by the country during December last year have declined sharply by nearly 25% when compared with December ’15. The country’s gold jewellery imports during December last this year totaled Rs 111.73 crores (USD 16.46 Million). During the same month in 2015, the country had imported gold jewellery worth Rs 148.36 crores (USD 22.28 Million).

Also, silver jewellery imports by the country during December last year tumbled by nearly 29% when matched with the previous year. The country’s Silver jewellery imports during December ‘16 totaled INR 21.27 crores (USD 3.13 Million). During same month a year before, the country had imported Silver jewellery worth INR 29.98 crores (USD 4.50 Million).

The GJEPC data also indicates that the imports of Colored Gemstones by the country totaled INR 698.13 crores (USD 102.82 Million) during December last year. The Synthetic Stones import totaled INR 60.11 crores (USD 8.85 Million). The imports of Pearls totaled INR 255.55 crores (USD 37.64 Million) during the month. Meantime, imports of Platinum declined sharply from INR 18.24 crores (USD 2.74 Million) in December 2015 to INR 12.47 crores (USD 1.84 Million) in December last year.

About GJEPC

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.