MUMBAI (Scrap Register): Recent data reflect a pickup in gold demand in China and India, reported Commerzbank.

Analysts cited data from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department showing that China imported 111.6 tons of gold on a net basis from Hong Kong in March. This was 56% more than last March, as well as the highest net gold imports in 10 months.

It seems that Chinese traders took advantage of the noticeably fallen prices in the first half of March – when gold dipped briefly below the $1,200 mark – to stock up on gold. What is more, stocks are likely to have been reduced accordingly given that China held back on imports in the previous months.

China is in essence following India’s lead, which itself reported high gold imports in March almost two weeks ago, Commerzbank added.

“However, it remains to be seen whether the trend has continued until recently in China and India; after all, the gold price had climbed sharply between mid-March and mid-April,” they noted.

Commerzbank added that China’s silver imports also rose in March. According to data from the customs authorities, Chinese silver imports soared by 42% year-on-year to 357 tons. At 948 tons, first-quarter silver imports were the highest in six years.