After the US and Germany, India is the world’s third largest consumer of silver. Described as the poor man’s gold, due to the fact vast numbers of people in the country see gold and silver as vital stores of value, but many — particularly in rural India — cannot afford the amount of gold they want in the form of jewellery, so silver is their alternative option
By the end of November this year, India had imported 8,000 tons of silver – up substantially on the 4,500 tons taken during 2021, reported smallcaps.com.au.
India’s precious metal dealers received their gold shipments by air, but silver normally came by sea. But the demand for silver in 2022 has seen the metal now being sent to India by air cargo. The urgent need to find stocks of silver is partly due to the demand going down last year due to Covid restrictions.
The forecast for 2022 was for India to import 5,900 tons, but that could go up. London vaults had by the end of September seen huge outflows of the metal. The surge in imports has been partly ascribed to increased industrial demand, but jewellery offtake is the main consumer of silver in India.
India’s precious metal dealers received their gold shipments by air, but silver normally came by sea. But the demand for silver in 2022 has seen the metal now being sent to India by air cargo. The urgent need to find stocks of silver is partly due to the demand going down last year due to Covid restrictions
After the US and Germany, India is the world’s third largest consumer of silver. Described as the poor man’s gold, due to the fact vast numbers of people in the country see gold and silver as vital stores of value, but many — particularly in rural India — cannot afford the amount of gold they want in the form of jewellery, so silver is their alternative option.
In addition, Indian millennials — middle class or poor — seemingly favour the cheaper silver, and are not so interested in gold as are the older generations.
*********************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com