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Mumbai: A quick look at social media feeds in India over the past month shows a flurry of weddings as couples rush to tie the knot after some virus restrictions are lifted.
About 2.5 million celebrations are projected to take place from mid-November, about a quarter of this year’s estimated annual total, after the government eased some restrictions around gatherings. This is a big change for jewelers in India, who have seen demand for nearly two years as the coronavirus has led to the postponement of several weddings – a major source of demand for the country which considers gold purchases and gifts to be auspicious – While widespread financial hardship put further restrictions on purchases.
Metals Focus Ltd said the bumper festive season could help boost India’s gold imports to 900 tonnes this year, the highest in six years. According to World Gold Council data, this is up from last year’s nearly 350 tonnes.
Chirag Sheth, Mumbai-based consultant at Metals Focus said, “Low prices and sluggish demand have helped boost sales, but we are also seeing a lot of weddings this year, some estimates suggest we may have record numbers. might.” What has happened in the last one and a half years has rekindled people’s faith in gold.
India is the world’s second largest consumer of gold and imports almost all the metal it consumes. Buying typically peaks in the festive quarter of October to December, and the World Gold Council has previously estimated sales in this period will be at least a decade’s best.
Tanya Rastogi, director of Lucknow-based Lala Jugal Kishore Jewellers, said, “There were many marriages that were postponed since last year and now the fear of the pandemic is rising again.” “This time customers were looking for heavy gold jewelery rather than stone studded jewellery, indicating a trend that jewelery is again being bought with great sensitivity to its investment value.”
Improvement in consumer confidence and fall in gold prices from last year’s peak is likely to boost demand further. “We are extremely optimistic about Indian demand in the long term as prices have normalized and bottomed out,” Sheth said. ,bloomberg
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