Net gold imports jump 27% in Jan-Mar quarter.

India’s net import of gold jumped by 27 per cent to 192.4 tonnes in the first quarter of calendar year 2019 from 151 tonnes in the same period last year. The main reason was the steep fall in gold price from record highs in February, according to Harshal Barot, research consultant, Metals Focus, data provider to miner’s lobby World Gold Council (WGC). Indeed, the MCX generic contract hit a record high of Rs 35,052 per 10 gm on February 20 before correcting to Rs 32,686 at March-end — all prices include GST. This correction and a pick up in the wedding season gave a boost to imports as jewellers began restocking. Also, there are more wedding days in the first half of this year than last year. In 2018, India imported 766 tonnes of gold, down from 867 tonnes in the previous year. While WGC does not comment on future demand, the fact that shares of organised players like Titan hit a record high of Rs 1,165 on April 25, 2019, is an indicator that demand continues to be robust. Experts say that the health of the upcoming monsoon will determine the demand trend during the rest of the year. The IMD has forecast a near normal monsoon. Another feature was that gold dore imports jumped to 67.4 tonnes in Q1 2019 from 59.7 tonnes in the comparative period last year.