gold supply banks shipment is returned India In favor of concentrating ahead of major festivals China, turkeyand other markets where better premiums are offered, three bank executives and two vault operators told Reuters.

This could create a shortage in the world’s second largest market. SleepAnd force Indian buyers to start paying hefty premiums for supplies in the coming peak-demand season.

Major Suppliers of Gold in India – Including ICBC Standard Bank, J. P. Morgan And standard Chartered – Usually import more gold before festivals and store it in vaults.

But now the safes hold less than 10% of the gold they did a year ago, sources said on Tuesday.

“Ideally there should be a few tonnes of gold in the safes during this time of the year. But now we have only a few kilos,” said a Mumbai-based vault official.

JPMorgan, ICBC and Standard Chartered declined to comment.

In India, the premium on the international gold price benchmark has hovered around $1-$2 an ounce as against around $4 this time last year.

Chanda Venkatesh, managing director of Hyderabad-based bullion merchant CapsGold, said premiums had come down sharply due to the now-closed loopholes, which led some Indian business houses to import gold in the form of low-tariff platinum alloys, leading to Some were even allowed to give gold at a discount. Told.

This is in contrast to the $20-45 premium offered in top consumer China, helped by continued demand following COVID-related lockdowns, and $80 in Turkey, where gold imports rose against the backdrop of rapid inflation. against has grown rapidly.

“Banks will sell where they get a higher price,” said a Mumbai-based official of a leading bullion supply bank.

“Buyers in China and Turkey are paying a very high premium right now. There is no comparison when we compare it with the Indian market,” the official said.

India’s gold imports in September fell 30% from a year earlier to 68 tonnes, while Turkish gold imports rose 543%. China’s net gold imports through Hong Kong jumped nearly 40% in August to a four-year high.

Indians will celebrate Dussehra, Diwali and Dhanteras in October, when buying gold is considered auspicious. These festivals are followed by the wedding season, which is one of the biggest drivers of gold buying in India.

A bullion dealer of a Mumbai-based bank said thin stocks of vaults may force Indian buyers to pay a hefty premium to secure supplies.