Gold Bar Imports Slipped by 4% in India

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade data published by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) indicates that gold bar imports by the country witnessed marginal decline during the month of April this year.

The gold bar imports by the country totaled $612.98 million in April this year. This is slightly lower by 4.17% when compared with the imports of $639.67 million in April 2018. In rupee terms, the imports totaled INR 4,255.95 crores, slightly higher by 1.36% over the previous year. The imports had totaled INR 4,198.81 crores in April 2018.

Meantime, the country witnessed huge surge in silver bar imports. The imports of silver bar totaled $2.13 million, significantly higher by nearly 46% year-on-year when compared with the imports of $1.46 million in April last year. In rupee terms, the imports surged higher by 55% from INR9.57 crores to INR 14.79 crores over the year.

The strong trend in imports of gold and silver jewellery continued in April as well. The gold jewellery imports at $28.51 million were significantly higher by 14.41% from $24.92 million in April 2018. The silver jewellery imports were up marginally by nearly 2% from $5.24 million to $5.32 million year-on-year.

The platinum imports by the country too recorded over 5% surge from the previous year to total $5.85 million in April this year. The Apr ’18 platinum imports had totaled only $5.55 million, GJEPC data said. On the other hand, imports of Pearls witnessed substantial decline by nearly 86% in April 2019. Year-on-year, the imports were down from $0.28 million to $0.04 million.

India’s gold bar imports had surged higher by 49% during the entire previous fiscal year (Apr ’18-Mar ’19).