ETF Securities sees Silver mining supply up; Total supply may decline

UNITED STATES October 30 2014 11:01 AM

 

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): Recent data on silver ore and concentrate production from the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) showed a year-over-year increase of 5% in August to a new record high annual pace near 876mn ounces in 2014, said ETF Securities.

 

The annual increase is on pace to near 3.6% compared to the 3.9% increase in 2013. Total silver supply is likely to continue to decline though due to reduced recycling supply. In 2013, total silver supply declined about 2.5% (according to the CPM Group) due to the sharp reduction in recycling on the back of lower prices. 

 

ETF Securities expects this trend to continue with prices down nearly 12% since the beginning of the year. Indeed, Silver was the worst performer, dropping 1.0% last week. Total silver supply is unlikely to increase until higher prices induce increased recycling.

 

While supply is declining, demand is critical for silver performance: the Silver Institute published a report by the CPM Group that noted “investment demand remains the single most important driver of prices in the silver market-investment demand my increase by one billion ounces in the next decade.”