NEW DELHI: A 4.2% decline in gold prices and an element of revenge buying have resulted in heavy footfalls in jewellery shops across the country, which could result in volume growth this Akshaya Tritiya, pipping that during the pre-Covid year of 2019, according to trade estimates.
The price of 24-carat gold (ex-GST) has declined from Rs 53,388 per 10 gram on April 18 to Rs 51,130 on May 2. “The sharp fall in prices over the past few days is resulting in good demand for gold jewellery and coins across the country, our feedback shows, with growth in volumes even over Akshaya Tritiya of 2019,” said Suvankar Sen, MD & CEO of Senco Gold & Diamonds. Sen declined to spell out exact figures as the company has just filed draft offer papers with Sebi.
Leading trade body, India Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA), whose rates are used to price sovereign gold bonds, estimates volumes of 23 tonnes this Akshay Tritiya, up 20% from that in 2019, given the “significant price fall,” according to IBJA national secretary Surendra Mehta.
The rough volume growth estimate TNIE got from jewellers and trade experts across the country was 5-7% to 15-20%. “The higher traction this Akshaya Tritiya could be owing to the lower volatility in gold prices over the past week, further aided by revenge shopping and today’s (May 3) festival holiday,” said Ramesh Kalyanaraman, ED of the listed Kalyan Jewellers.
“While an uptick in sales in the southern markets was expected, the response from the non-south markets has also been extremely encouraging. We are encouraged by the significant increase in footfall, sales volume and value, even when compared to the pre-pandemic days of 2019.”
Jewellers said the last two years’ demand trends are not comparable due to Covid-led disruption.
Popular household jeweller across Mumbai, Goa and Indore Waman Hari Pethe’s Aditya Pethe said his stores were “booming” with customer orders and he expected 10-15% volume growth across his stores from 2019.