This story is from November 1, 2019

Diwali gold imports in Gujarat at five-year low

A slump in gold demand through the festive season of Navratri and Diwali has been visible, with weak consumer sentiment and slow muhurat purchases. According to data from the Ahmedabad Air Cargo Complex, merely 2.06 metric tonnes (MT) of gold was imported from October 1 to 25. With this, imports of the yellow metal hit a five-year low for the Diwali season.
Diwali gold imports in Gujarat at five-year low
Representative image
AHMEDABAD: A slump in gold demand through the festive season of Navratri and Diwali has been visible, with weak consumer sentiment and slow muhurat purchases. According to data from the Ahmedabad Air Cargo Complex, merely 2.06 metric tonnes (MT) of gold was imported from October 1 to 25. With this, imports of the yellow metal hit a five-year low for the Diwali season.

"Demand was low-key throughout the Navratri-Diwali festive season. The high price of gold coupled with cashflow problems and the economic slowdown, weakened consumer sentiment, causing demand to take a significant hit," said Haresh Acharya, director of the India Bullion and Jewellers' Association (IBJA).
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The price of gold settled at Rs 39,630 per 10g on Thursday, though it had crossed the Rs 40,000-mark on Dhanteras.
"The cost of procurement has risen significantly due to several reasons. The international gold price is significantly high, the rupee is depreciating against the US dollar and basic customs duty on gold has been raised from 10% to 12.5% in the budget announced in July. For a consumer, the price is significantly high especially when cashflow is a concern and people are not parting with money easily. This dampened muhurat and sentiment-driven gold purchases," said a city-based jeweller who asked not to be named.

Gold imports in October declined marginally against September (2.5 MT). The decline from the preceding Diwali has was at a four-year high. Gold imports fell by 71.7% against last year's Diwali month.
"Most purchases during the festive season were purpose-oriented. Only if someone needed jewellery for weddings or other occasions they would buy. Moreover, people came with limited budgets and a large proportion bought new jewellery through the exchange of old gold. The festive season was extremely weak this year," said Jigar Soni, vice president of the Jewellers' Association of Ahmedabad (JAA).
"The government's policies are also not making gold attractive for consumers," he added. Estimates by jewellers show that at least 80% of gold purchases took place through the exchange of old gold, in the Navratri-Diwali festive season.
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