Indian silver imports rose 96% in February.
February 2017 Indian silver imports of 162.699 tons were up 96.4% from 83 tons in February 2016.
February silver imports were down 55% from 363 tons imported in January.
As the dust settles from India’s rupee demonetization and “war on gold” gold sales soar, silver sales languish.
Indian solar power plant, largest in the world, now completed. (SLIDESHOW)
From India and Silver:
200 million ounces a year is approximately 622 tons or 51 tons a month annually.
Indian Silver Imports by Month in 2016 – 2017
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Indian Silver Import Update.
Last year we released a survey of India and Silver that covered supply and demand in that country. We noted that silver was India’s second metal to gold. Since we produced that report, Indian silver imports surged in 2015 then plummeted in 2016.
Indian silver imports rose 20% in 2015 from 2014.
2016 Indian Silver Imports fell 58% to 3,546 Tons (approximately 114,006,548 ounces) from 8529 Tons (approximately 27,4213,721 ounces) in 2015.
Silver imports were negatively impacted by a nationwide jewelry strike began as a protest against the Indian government’s institution of a sales tax on gold. Higher silver prices have also slowed Indian silver imports. Reports for February 2017 indicate Indian jewelers are restocking their gold inventories at a rapid rate. We suspect they did the same for their silver inventories in February.
Indian gold imports have also been adversely impacted by the above-referenced factors. Gold imports in November however spiked to their highest levels since January 2016 but were cut by more than half in December.
Indian gold imports were down 39% in 2016.
Annual Indian Silver Imports 1999 – 2017
See January 2016 Indian Gold Imports
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Monthly Indian Silver Imports August 2014 – February 2017
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Indian Silver Imports vs. Global Silver Mining Production
Silver miners increased production in 2015.* Their efforts however, were not enough to meet demand, much of the increased demand coming from India (the other from sovereign mint coin and privately minted silver bar and round demand).
Mexico’s silver mining production in 2015 was 189.5 million ounces up 1.7% from 2015. Peru’s silver mining production increased 10.6% in 2015 to 135.9 million ounces.
Rounding out the top twenty silver mining countries in 2015 were (in order from 11-20) Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Canada, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Turkey, Dominican Republic and Armenia.
To put India’s silver imports in context, the 8,506 tons of silver imported into India in 2015 or 273 million ounces is about a third of the approximately 870 million ounces of silver mined in the world in 2015. While India imports silver from various nations, the 273 million ounces imported in 2015 is the equivalent of the entire production of Mexico, the world’s leading silver mining country, AND the entire output of the fourth largest silver mining country, Australia.
China is the third largest silver mining country in the world and retains nearly all of their mining production. Therefore, the total global silver mining supply available to India and the rest of the word is not the 870 million ounces global mining supply estimate of the Silver Institute, but something closer to 750 million ounces.
Indian Silver Imports vs. American Silver Eagle Coin Sales
Through the first three quarters of 2016, the United States Mint has sold 34,250,500 one ounce American Silver Eagle coins In 2015 the U.S. Mint sold a recored 47,000,000 American Silver Eagles.
*According to the Silver Institute, global silver mining production increased 2.1% in 2015. Their findings mirror the reports of Societe Generale, the CPM Group, Statistica , the Peruvian and the Mexican governments that indicated that silver mining production increased in 2015.
The Indian silver charts are derived from data pulled from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt. of India by Nick Laird of GoldChartsrus and are updated monthly and archived on Smaulgld.com.
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