Premiums in the silver market which were ruling at a whopping Rs 30,000/kg have sharply fallen to Rs 550/kg, after 2,200 tonne of the white metal was imported in the past couple of months.
In September, 1,012 tonne was imported while in October 1,200 tonne, valued $2.72 billion, was shipped into the country. In fact, the October silver import bill was higher than the first nine months.
The fizzling out of the festival demand has also made things better for traders. “Silver was trading at a small premium in the local market, as demand has eased now after the festive-season euphoria when premiums had touched about $5-7/oz. The earlier supply tightness has also normalised, with adequate metal now being available”, said Adarsh Diwe, Research Consultant, Metals Focus.
Silver spot silver stood at Rs 153,466/kg on Tuesday, down 1.25%.
Last month, the FOMO (fear of missing out) factor led to a huge rally in the white metal. This resulted in buyers paying very high premiums for ready delivery.
During last month’s frenzy, silver was sold at Rs 2 lakh/kg, with average premiums ruling at 12-17%. In the Ahmedabad market, it went as high as 20%. However, the official Mumbai price was quoted at an all-time high of Rs 176,467/kg on October 14.
Chirag Thakkar, director, Amrapali Gujarat Group, one of the largest players in silver, said, “With every price correction, we see silver buying returning.” He suggested staggered buying.
Total silver import in the first 10 months of the calendar year 2025 stood at 5,500 tonne, against the full-year import of 7,669 tonne in 2024. High inflow, coupled with easing festive-season euphoria and moderating FOMO sentiment after a sudden correction in prices a few weeks ago, has resulted in prices reading at a discount since the last few days. Prices were quoting at a marginal premium on Tuesday.
Gold import in October was estimated at 110 tonne, and the import bill stood at $14.7 bn, compared with $4.9 billion in the year-ago period, according to trade data released by the government on Monday.
In the current financial year, from April to October, the gold import bill stood at $41.2 billion (21% higher than the same period last year). The seven-month silver import bill at $5.9 billion was 138% higher than last fiscal.