India’s gold bar imports witness rapid decline in March: GJEPC

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 March this year.

Gold Bar Imports

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

The monthly import statistics indicate that the total gold bar imports by the country during March ‘17 amounted to Rs 1,999.87 crores (USD 303.56 Million). In rupee terms, the gold bar imports have declined sharply by nearly 41.5% over the year. The decline in dollar terms stood at 40.5%. It must be noted that the country’s gold bar imports during March 2016 were valued at Rs 3,419.94 crores (USD 510.29 Million).

The March ’17 gold bar imports have increased considerably when compared with the imports during the month before. The country’s gold bar imports had totaled Rs 434.82 crores (USD 64.82 Million) in February this year.

The cumulative gold bar imports by the country during the full twelve-month period (Apr ’16 to Mar ’17) of the previous fiscal year remained nearly flat over the previous year. The imports remained more or less same, increasing marginally from Rs 26,536.74 crores (USD 4,04342 Million) during April ‘15 to March ’16 to Rs 27,626.59 crores (USD 4,123.13 Million) during FY ’17.

Silver Bar Imports

The GJEPC figures suggest significant decline in Silver bar imports by the country during the month of March this year. The country’s Silver bar imports during the month have dropped by over 21% upon comparison with the imports during the same month the year before.

The total Silver bar imports by the country in March 2017 amounted to INR 20.21 crores (USD 3.07 Million). In rupee terms, the Silver bar imports have dropped considerably by 22.63% when matched with the previous year. The decline in dollar terms stood at 21.28%. It must be noted that the country’s Silver bar imports during March 2016 had totaled INR 26.12 crores (USD 3.90 Million).

Also, silver bar imports by the country in March this year increased modestly when compared with the previous month. The imports were up by nearly 15% when compared with the previous month. The country’s Silver bar imports had totaled INR 17.64 crores (USD 2.63 Million) during February 2017.

The silver bar imports during the entire twelve-month period of the previous fiscal year totaled INR 322.08 crores (USD 48.06 Million).

Jewellery Imports

The imports of gold jewellery by the country during March this year have increased marginally by nearly 2.3% when compared with March ’16. The country’s gold jewellery imports during March this year totaled Rs 156.36 crores (USD 23.73 Million). During the same month in 2016, the country had imported gold jewellery worth Rs 152.85 crores (USD 22.81 Million).

Also, silver jewellery imports by the country during March this year tumbled by nearly 32% when matched with the previous year. The country’s Silver jewellery imports during March ‘17 totaled INR 35.23 crores (USD 5.35 Million). During same month a year before, the country had imported Silver jewellery worth INR 51.50 crores (USD 7.68 Million).

The GJEPC data also indicates that the imports of Colored Gemstones by the country totaled INR 627.58 crores (USD 95.26 Million) during March this year. The Synthetic Stones import totaled INR46.93 crores (USD 7.12 Million). The imports of Pearls surged higher to total INR 2,379.39 (USD 361.17 Million) during the month. Meantime, imports of Platinum inched lower from INR 12.52 crores (USD 1.87 Million) in March 2016 to INR 10.63 crores (USD 1.61 Million) in March this 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.