Gold import volume dips 18%, silver surges 56%
With the average price of gold rising nearly 25% on a year-on-year basis to $94,554 a kg during April-Dec, buyers became cautious, resulting in demand falling.
Data released by the commerce department slowed gold import volume dipped 18.3% to 522 tonnes during the nine-month period. But higher unit value meant that the value of imports was 1.8% higher at $49.4 billion. In contrast, despite silver price (unit value) soaring 46.7% to $1,357 a kg, imports shot up 56% to 5,727 tonnes.
As a result, silver imports more than doubled in April-Dec to $7.8 billion against $3.4 billion in nine-month period in 2024.
A part of the reason is industrial use for silver, whereas gold is seen more as an investment instrument.
