Page 7 - Bullion World Volume 5 Issue 04 April 2025_Neat

Bullion World | Volume 5 | Issue 04 | April 2025

period in 2023. Yet, by October, the rapid surge
in silver imports began to slow down. The Indian
government, alongside the UAE, agreed to review
the trade agreement, prompted by concerns over the
spike in silver imports. This review aims at ensuring
EDITORIAL that the trade complies with established rules of
origin and preventing any circumvention of import
duties, marking a significant shift in India’s approach
to silver imports in the coming years.
Dear Readers,
In 2024, silver exchange-traded funds (E
In 2024, silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw a
In 2023, India's silver imports took a significant dip,
falling to about 3,574 metric tons, a steep decline remarkable rise in retail participation. The number of
from the 2022 imports of about 8,000 tons. This folios surged by over four times, reaching 621,639
drop was largely attributed to a reduced demand by the end of December, compared to just 152,259
due to investor's shift towards gold, which offered folios a year earlier. This sharp increase reflects
better returns during that period. However, the trend growing investor interest in silver as an asset class,
reversed in the early months of 2024. By April, silver The silver ETF market also saw a substantial growth
imports had already surpassed the entirety of the in terms of assets under management (AUM). By
previous year's total, reaching an impressive 4,174 December 2024, the total AUM across 12 silver ETF
metric tons. schemes managed by various asset management
companies reached INR 12,317 crore, a significant
jump from INR 3,031 crore at the close of 2023. This
This surge was fuelled by renewed interest from
the domestic manufacturers. A key factor behind surge in both investor participation and assets under
this increase was the changing dynamics in India’s management highlights the growing role of silver
import sources. The UAE emerged as the prominent ETFs in the investment.
supplier, accounting for nearly 50% of India's silver
imports in the first half of 2024.This shift was The year 2025 has been good for silver investors.
made possible by the Comprehensive Economic However, the biggest challenge going forward is
Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the break-down of global trade and raise of regional
the UAE. In July 2024, India made a notable move, trade and FTAs and tariff-wars. How would silver
slashing the import duty on silver from 15% to performance in the new era is too difficult to say
6%. This change essentially nullified the advantage now. But every stakeholder needs to keenly track
previously provided by the CEPA, leading to a these developments and plan accordingly. We would
slowdown in the flow of silver from the UAE under discuss these in detail at our conference in Udaipur
the reduced-duty regime. The dramatic increase later this month. Looking forward to seeing you all at
in imports continued through September 2024, the conference.eTrdi
ing you all at the conference.
with imports climbing to 6,290 metric tons—an Best wishes,
astounding 600% growth compared to the same G Srivatsava
Editor

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