India's Silver bar imports in Feb '14 plunged 36%: GJEPC.

MUMBAI : The latest statistics released by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) suggests huge drop in the country’s Silver bar imports during the month of February 2014. The country’s Silver bar imports plunged by 36.14% during the month of February 2014 upon comparison with the imports during the same month last year. This is in accordance with the raw material import details published today by Council for the month of February 2014.
 
The GJEPC data indicates that the total Silver bar imports by the country in February this year amounted to INR 13.41 crores (USD 2.15 Million). In rupee terms, the Silver bar imports have declined by 36.14%. The decline in dollar terms stood at 45.01%. It must be noted that the country’s Silver bar imports during February last year were INR 21.00 crores (USD 3.91 Million).
 
According to GJEPC, the cumulative Silver bar imports by the country during the first eleven-month period of the current fiscal year has declined by 15.68% over the year. The country’s Silver bar imports during the period from April 2013 to February 2014 totaled INR 215.50 crores (USD 35.89 Million). During the same eleven-month period in 2012, the country had imported Silver bars worth INR 255.56 crores (USD 47.05 Million).
 
Meanwhile, imports of Platinum remained flat with negative bias during February. The imports of Platinum during the month totaled INR 5.21 crores (USD 0.84 Million), as against the imports of INR 5.26 crores (USD 0.98 Million) recorded during February 2013.
 
In a bid to curb surging imports and rising CAD situation, the government had raised the import duty on Silver to 10% from 6%. Consequently, the imports of Silver have witnessed sharp decline.

Source : metal.com