Fuelled by industrial demand riding on slight reduction in prices,silver demandsurged by 618% in May this year.Silver importsinGujaratstood at 4.74 metric tonnes (MT) according to data provided by Ahmedabad Air Cargo Complex, which even though much lower than earlier years, was at an 11-month high. Against this, silver imports in April stood at 0.66 MT. Analysts said that as silverpricesreduced slightly to Rs 70,800 per kg when markets resumed operations in the end of May after a three-week shutdown imposed to curb Covid-19 spread.
Due tolow pricesand pent-up demand over past 11 months, silver imports surged significantly. But the volume of imports is very low. On an Average, the annual consumption used to be around 100-150MT. Currently, a few refineries have imported silver for routine demand, said Haresh Acharya, director, India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA).
Silver imports were nil in May last year, the data further suggests. Precious Metal imports saw a steep decline in the pandemic year. According to data by Ahmedabad Air Cargo Complex, silver demand plunged 66.2% in 2020-21 at 30.35MT against 90.39MT in 2019-20.
According to estimates by bullion traders and analysts, at least 25% of the total imports of silver accounts for industrial usage whereas the rest is diverted towards retail demand in the form of jewellery, artefacts, coins and bars.