Cashing in on silver boom

In the silver boom witnessed earlier, the prices had crossed to Rs 8,000, only to crash to as low as Rs 6,000. This time round, retail customers want to use the boom for all its worth by selling silver at the most historic peak ever reached, says an industry watcher.

Traders say a lot of stored, hoarded and confiscated silver stock has come up for sale, offered by a cross section of investors, both big and small. In the coming days, they say, even government agencies like the customs and income tax department, may venture to reap windfall profits from their confiscated stock. The real users of silver from the industrial and commercial sectors like photography, electrical and electronics, zari threads, foils for sweet and gutka/pan masala industry and jewellers, are staying away, for the moment, and are adopting a wait and watch policy till the prices stabilise. In fact,this trend, where the demand has come down instead of going up at higher prices, could help cool down the international markets. The world was watching India, as it is one of the biggest consumers of gold and silver the world over. Says Rakesh Shah, a customer who sold his silver coin: "I don’t think the silver prices can ever go up the way it has today. It is just temporary. We wanted to get rid of many old silver utensils so that we can buy gold which (prices) has come down." Jewellers add many customers wanted to barter silver for gold. "In order to increase our sales, and taking into account customers’ requests, we conducted some barter deals," says a Jhaveri Baazar merchant. "Besides, many customers have bought silver before the December 31 deadline to join the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme to evade taxes. Now, they are unloading it," he said.