Silver imports likely to pick up pace after falling over 63% in 2023

High prices and previous year's base weighed on the precious metal

India’s silver imports crashed more than 63 per cent in calendar year (CY) 2023 to 3,475 tonne, down from a record 9,450 tonne the year before but traders expect demand to return in 2024.

The fall looks steeper on the higher base of 2022, when silver imports increased 241 per cent year-on-year. However, note that in CY 2020 and 2021 little gold and silver was imported due to lock downs to contain the spread of Covid-19. The backlog led traders to stock up silver at lower prices and then prompted imports in 2022.

India imported 1,829 tonnes of silver in