India Seen Driving Silver Demand

A surge in silver demand during the second half of 1996 led to a drawdown in above-ground world silver stocks, according to premliminary data from Gold Fields Mineral Services (GFMS)

The data for India looked so significant and surprising, we thought we would provide an indication now, rather than wait until May, Gold Fields Mineral Services chief executive Stewart Murray said in an interview with Reuters.

GFMS is collecting data for the Silver Institutes 1997 silver survey due to be published in May.

For 1996 as a whole, total silver imports through Indias two official channels amounted to just over 100 million ounces, representing a rise of more than 30 per cent from 1995, GFMS chief executive Stewart Murray said.

 

The increase in Indian silver demand followed good harvests which boosted consumer demand, especially in the Northern tribal belts where heavyweight silver jewelry remains the favored method of saving among rural populations, Murray said.