With gold (GC=F) recently hitting new highs, investors are also optimistic about silver (SI=F).
The commodity, often referred to as gold's “little brother,” is up about 23% in the past two months, hovering above $28 an ounce. In comparison, the yellow precious metal rose 19% during the same period.
“The typical pattern for silver is that gold is the leader. [It] First it breaks, then within a few months the silver stuff takes over and slingshots past. We're starting to see that,” Sprott Asset Management CEO John Ciampaglia told Yahoo Finance this week.
Bulls aren't just following price trends. They also note demand, particularly the growing industrial use of silver in the transition to green energy.
“We are seeing very strong buying of silver from India, as well as steady consumption of silver for the use of solar panels, which are currently being built in record quantities around the world,” Champaglia said. Stated.
Silver use in industrial applications hit a record high for the third year in a row in 2023, according to data released Wednesday by the Silver Association, an industry nonprofit.
“Continued structural benefits from green economy applications underpinned these advances,” the report said, citing higher-than-expected solar panel capacity and adoption.
The Silver Association expects supplies of the metal to fall by 1% this year, resulting in the second-largest market deficit in more than 20 years. The industry group also expects demand to grow beyond the energy transition in the coming years.
“For example, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), silver will become an essential material. End uses where silver is expected to be incorporated into AI include transportation, nanotechnology, biotechnology, healthcare, consumer “This includes consumer wearables, computing, and data center energy,” the report said.
Silver closed at an all-time high of just over $48 an ounce in April 2011.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @ines_ferre.
