The 2025 SMM (6th) Silver Industry Chain Innovation Conference Successfully Concluded! Decoding Industry Opportunities, Collaborating to Write a New Chapter of Development!

On May 16, the 2025 SMM (6th) Silver Industry Chain Innovation Conference, hosted by SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd. (SMM), co-organized by Ningbo Haoshun Precious Metals Co., Ltd. and Quanda New Materials (Ningbo) Co., Ltd., and strongly supported by sponsors including Fujian Zijin Precious Metals Co., Ltd., Huizhou Yi'an Precious Metals Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Jiangshan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Jinquan Mining & Metallurgy Equipment Co., Ltd., Hunan Shengyin New Materials Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Weida Precious Metal Powder Materials Co., Ltd., Guangxi Zhongma Zhonglianjin Cross-border E-commerce Co., Ltd., Suzhou Xinghan New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Yongxing Zhongsheng Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., IKOI S.p.A, Hunan Zhengming Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., Kunshan Hongfutai Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., and Shandong Humon Smelting Co., Ltd., successfully concluded in Ningbo, Zhejiang!The conference focused on the innovative development of the silver industry chain, featuring meticulously designed segments such as keynote speeches, supply and demand exchanges, closed-door seminars, roundtable interviews, and award ceremonies. The event gathered industry leaders, authoritative experts, corporate elites, and seasoned investors to deeply analyze the global silver market landscape, focusing on core issues such as supply and demand dynamics, technological innovation, and application expansion. Together, they explored feasible paths to enhance competitiveness and optimize the value chain under industry transformation, pooling wisdom and stimulating innovative momentum to decode new opportunities in the silver industry and jointly map out the blueprint for global industry chain development!

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Opening Remarks

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Sun Jing, Vice Chairman of the Yinzhou District Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Ningbo

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Yao Bingbing, General Manager of Ningbo Haoshun Precious Metals Co., Ltd.

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Zhou Bai, Executive Vice President of SMM

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Awards

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Silver Standard Trust•2025 SMM1# Silver Price Submitter Accreditation

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2025 "Silver Glory Award" China's Top Silver Traders

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May 16

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Silver Panorama Forum

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Guest Speaker

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Speech Topic: Basic Analysis of the Current Economic Situation

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Guest Speaker: Hu Yuyue, Director and Professor of the Securities and Futures Research Institute, Beijing Technology and Business University

Speech Topic: Analysis of China's Copper, Lead, and Zinc Resource Security Capability

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Guest Speaker: Zuo Geng, Chief Expert of the Economic Research Institute, China Minmetals Corporation

Speech Topic: Analysis of Silver and Gold Price Trends

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Guest Speaker: Liang Yonghui, Deputy General Manager of Shandong Zhaojin Gold & Silver Refinery Co., Ltd.

Logic of Gold and Silver Price Analysis

The logical hierarchy of gold-driven analysis differs from that of commodities, stemming from gold's financial attributes.

Silver prices are focusing on copper prices.

Long-term: The macro trend of gold prices is countering paper currency credit.

Medium-term: Guided by expectations of real interest rates, with capital flows dominated by technical factors, speculation, and hedging.

Short-term: Market sentiment.

Gold price = real interest rate + hedging + market sentiment, etc.

Logic from 1997 to present: 1997-2015: real interest rates, inflation; 2016-2018: technical factors; 2019-present: real interest rates, hedging, market sentiment.

Analysis System for Gold and Silver Prices (Mind Map)

Macro Fundamentals: From the perspective of military cycles, the current period is a high-incidence era of revolutions spanning a century, indicating a more severe situation than the 1930s and 1970s.

From the perspective of the Kondratieff Wave (long-wave cycle), the current situation in the US is similar to that of the 1970s, both experiencing significant inflation during the Kondratieff depression.

Solar Flares: A century-long solar storm tide provides long-term support for gold and silver.

The rise in global average temperatures will significantly increase the number of hungry people, heightening uncertainty risks. Abnormal weather patterns, economic turmoil, and population expansion will provide long-term bullish factors for gold and silver. (Carbon neutrality)

From the perspective of the US dollar index, it has fallen below 100 but is expected to fluctuate, leading to an increase in gold and silver prices.

The purchasing power of major currencies and commodities has significantly declined relative to gold.

Historically, major currencies were pegged to gold. With the final collapse of the US Bretton Woods system in 1971, gold was delinked from the US dollar. Since then, with few exceptions, gold has significantly outperformed all major currencies and commodities as a medium of exchange. A key factor behind this robust performance is the slow growth in the supply side of gold, with gold mine production growing slowly over time—approximately 1.7% annually over the past two decades. In contrast, fiat currencies can be printed in unlimited quantities to support monetary policies, such as the quantitative easing (QE) policies implemented after the 2008 global financial crisis and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. These crises have prompted investors to turn to gold to hedge against the risk of currency depreciation and protect asset purchasing power.

The current US Fed interest rate cut cycle has entered a pause phase.

A series of uncertainties are affecting the outlook for the US Fed's interest rate cuts.

The minutes of the US Fed's monetary policy meetings indicate that policies such as the Trump administration's tariffs have led to increased economic uncertainty and upward risks to inflation. Therefore, the US Fed will continue to pause interest rate cuts and wait for clearer inflation and economic prospects before taking further action.

According to statistics, the term "tariffs" was mentioned 107 times in the US Fed's Beige Book report, and terms related to "uncertainty" appeared 89 times, sufficiently reflecting the US Fed's concerns about the series of uncertain consequences resulting from tariff policies.

Currently, market expectations are for an interest rate cut as early as June, with up to four cuts anticipated throughout the year.

According to the US Fed's interest rate forecast dot plot, a report released by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) based on individual members' predictions of future target interest rates: Looking ahead to the US Fed's future interest rate cut path, the prerequisites for future US Fed interest rate cuts are sustained declines in inflation or significant weakness in the job market. Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to cut interest rates, but Fed Chairman Powell has clearly stated that the Fed will maintain a wait-and-see stance for now. Currently, influenced by the continued weakening of the labour market, market expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts this year have risen to 100 basis points, with a total of four cuts anticipated.

The global de-dollarization process is advancing, with cracks appearing in the US dollar system. As the world order is reshaped and no alternative to gold has emerged, gold prices are supported.

The macroeconomic cycle influences medium and long-term fluctuations in gold prices. US economic recession cycles often correspond with rising gold prices and falling silver prices.

The risk of economic recession has significantly increased, which is bullish for gold and bearish for silver.

From the perspective of real interest rates, the current static gold price is $1,850.

►Silver Supply and Demand Situation

The latest report released by the Silver Institute predicts that the global silver deficit will narrow to 117.6 million ounces in 2025, a decrease of 21%. This change stems from a combined effect of a 1% decline in demand and a 2% increase in total supply. Silver, as an important material for jewelry, electronics, EVs, and solar panels, and with investment value, has shown a structural market shortage for five consecutive years. It is expected to remain stable in 2025, while demand for jewelry and silverware is anticipated to decline. The report specifically mentions that adjustments to US tariff policies pose a major risk factor for silver demand this year, and changes may profoundly affect the supply-demand balance in the global silver market.

Both the total global silver supply and silver mine production have slowed down.

Total demand has weakened somewhat, with industrial silver demand continuing to grow and PV demand growth being limited.

》Analysis of Silver and Gold Price Trends from a Trader's Perspective [SMM Silver Conference]

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Speech Topic: Current Application and Outlook of Silver in the PV Industry

Guest Speaker: Ding Gangqiang, Deputy Chief Engineer and Researcher at CSSC Huanggang Precious Metals Co., Ltd.

1. Background Overview

►PV Industry Chain:

►Application of Silver in the PV Industry:

►Structural Diagram of Solar Cells:

In addition, he also shared the technology roadmap for crystalline silicon solar cells.

2. Analysis of the Current Application Status of Silver in the PV Industry

►Current Status Analysis

• Silver Nitrate: Silver nitrate is an important product of deep processing of silver and serves as a raw material for many other deep-processed products. It is mainly used in fields such as PV, electronics, petrochemicals, mirror manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and photography.

• PV Silver Powder: The requirements for PV silver powder include high sphericity, high dispersibility, narrow particle size distribution, high tap density, and surface roughness, which enable the paste products to achieve good photoelectric conversion efficiency and stable electrical performance.

• PV Silver Paste:

PV Silver Powder: The size of silver powder particles affects the contact resistance, open-circuit voltage, and resistivity of silver grid lines.

Glass Frit: Glass frit is used to etch the silicon nitride layer. The type of glass frit affects the performance of the front-side silver paste, thereby influencing the photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cells.

Organic Vehicle: The organic vehicle serves as a carrier for ultra-fine silver powder and glass frit, playing a dispersing role and thus affecting the printability of screen printing.

• Silver Consumption in Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells: With advancements in various electrode and printing manufacturing technologies, the silver consumption per unit of mainstream cell types such as PERC, TOPCon, and HJT has been decreasing year by year.

• Laser-Enhanced Contact Optimization (LECO) decouples passivation damage and ohmic contact, enabling cell metallization. The core principle of LECO lies in leveraging the high energy concentration and controllability of lasers to separate the two steps of passivation layer erosion and ohmic contact formation during the high-temperature sintering process, thereby achieving efficient and precise control over the sintering process.

• Silver-Coated Copper Paste: PV companies are actively exploring electrode technologies that utilize base metals such as copper to replace silver, mainly divided into silver-coated copper paste combined with screen printing technology and copper electroplating technology.

The silver-coated copper powder technology reduces silver consumption by coating silver on the surface of copper powder. By adjusting the ratio of silver to copper, it ensures conversion efficiency while reducing the cost of silver paste. Silver-coated copper powder: contains 15% silver.

• Silver Recovery from PV Modules: According to forecasts by the Zero Carbon Research Institute, by 2030, the cumulative amount of discarded PV modules in China will reach approximately 18 GW, equivalent to about 1.5 million mt, with an output value of approximately 6.1 billion yuan. By 2050, the cumulative amount of discarded PV modules will reach 253 GW, equivalent to about 20 million mt, with an output value of 90 billion yuan.

》Current Application Status and Prospects of Silver in the PV Industry [SMM Silver Conference]

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Speech Topic: Exploring Cutting-Edge Solutions for Innovative PV Silver Recovery Technologies

Guest Speaker: Quanfa Zhou, Foreign Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice President of Changzhou Institute of Technology

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Speech Topic: Exploring Cutting-Edge Technologies for Precious Metal Recovery and Refining, and the Innovation-Driven Transformation of Intelligent Equipment

Guest Speaker: Zhenping Heng, Chairman of Zhengzhou Jinquan Mining and Metallurgical Equipment Co., Ltd.

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Roundtable Discussion: Current Opportunities and Challenges for Silver

Moderator: Xiaolei Liu, Director of SMM Big Data

Panelists: Yonghui Liang, Deputy General Manager of Shandong Zhaojin Gold and Silver Refining Co., Ltd.

Jing Wu, General Manager of the Precious Metals Business Unit of Xilong Scientific Co., Ltd.

Chairman of Shanghai Laiyue Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Peilin Kuang

Hang Chen, Deputy General Manager of Fujian Zijin Precious Metals Materials Co., Ltd.

》Click to View Discussion Details

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Speech Topic: Current Status and Development Trends of China's Silver Nitrate Industry Technology Market

Guest Speaker: Chao Wu, Executive Director/Director of the Silver Compounds and Materials Preparation Laboratory of Nanyang Silver New Materials Engineering Technology Research Center/Tongbai Hongxin New Materials Co., Ltd.

1. Overview of Silver Nitrate Industry

Basic Properties of Silver Nitrate

►Characteristics and Functions of Silver Nitrate

Appearance: Silver nitrate appears as colourless, transparent, rhombic crystals or white crystals, with unique physical characteristics.

Strong Oxidizing Property: Silver nitrate is a strong oxidizing agent, exhibiting significant oxidizing ability in chemical reactions.

Solubility: Silver nitrate is highly soluble in water and alkalis, and slightly soluble in C₂H₅OC₂H₅. Its solubility characteristics influence its range of applications.

Main Application Areas of Silver Nitrate

Application in the PV Field: The importance of silver powder for PV silver paste is self-evident. Over 95% of the world's PV silver powder is produced using the liquid-phase reduction method with silver nitrate as the raw material.

Application in the Electronics Field: Used in various components and electrical contact materials in the microelectronics industry, and as a common reagent in analytical chemistry.

Catalyst: In domestic petrochemical enterprises, the annual usage of silver catalysts amounts to thousands of mt.

Pharmaceutical Industry: Used as anti-inflammatory and corrosive drugs, such as burn ointments and medical disinfectant gauzes.

Environmental Protection and Resource Recovery: Removes chloride ions from wastewater (forming silver chloride precipitate) or acts as a precipitant for heavy metal ions (such as sulphides); silver recovery technologies for wastewater from silicon wafer cutting and electroplating in the PV industry (e.g., ion exchange, electrolysis).

Chemical and Analytical Detection: Used as a precursor for preparing other silver compounds (e.g., silver ammonium nitrate, silver oxide) and silver nanomaterials (e.g., silver nanoparticles, nanowires).

Photographic Materials: Over 50% of the world's silver is used to manufacture photographic materials. Silver salts are used in the photosensitive layers of photographic materials, with silver nitrate being the basic raw material.

Mirror Manufacturing Industry: Silver coating on glass provides excellent reflectivity. Currently, the best mirrors are made with silver, with silver nitrate being the basic raw material.

2. Current Status of the Technology Market

Current Status of Production Processes

Characteristics of Traditional Processes: Traditional silver nitrate production processes are relatively simple to operate and do not require highly sophisticated equipment. However, they suffer from issues such as low production efficiency, high energy consumption, and limited product purity. For example, using simple dissolution and evaporation processes results in long production cycles and incomplete removal of impurities.

Difficulties in Increasing Production Capacity: The difficulties in increasing production capacity are constrained by multiple factors, with aging equipment and outdated processes being the main reasons. Existing production lines are difficult to expand on a large scale, and intelligent upgrades are challenging. The high cost and long cycle of building new production lines make it difficult for most enterprises to meet the rapidly growing market demand.

Process improvement directions: The main focus of process improvement is to enhance production efficiency and product quality, while reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution. Automated control systems can be introduced to precisely control reaction conditions; R&D of new-type catalysts can be conducted to optimize reaction pathways, thereby achieving green and efficient production.

"Current Status and Development Trends of China's Silver Nitrate Industry Technology Market: Prospects" [SMM Silver Conference]

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Speech Topic: Global Demand and Trends for PV Silver Paste

Guest Speaker: Liao Cheng, Marketing Manager, Changzhou Fusion New Materials Co., Ltd.

PV Market - Slowdown in Installations

PV Market - Technological Changes and Trends in Silver Paste Consumption

It analyzed the market share estimates for various technologies such as PERC, TopCon, HJT, xBC, and others, as well as the global average silver consumption per watt for PV silver paste.

Global Silver Production and PV Silver Paste Usage

It discussed in conjunction with the changes in SHFE silver prices and supply & demand analysis of silver from 2020 to 2025.

Forecast for Total Global Demand for PV Silver Paste in 2025

It also shared Fusion New Materials' cost-reduction strategies in metallization for the new era of PV.

Metallization - The Imbalance Among Three Key Factors

It discussed cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and reliability in PV cells, stating that as the specific consumption decreases to a certain level, the reliability risk increases exponentially!

Impact and Solutions of Paste Formulations on Acetic Acid Issues

Highly Corrosion-Resistant Paste

Low Silver Consumption → Strong Demand for Acetic Acid-Resistant Systems

Regulation of powder interactions to optimize the material's expansion coefficient and acid resistance; reduction of inorganic corrosion on silicon and glass layer thickness; dense packing design of powder to reduce electrode void density.

High-Resistance Dense Grid Technology - Efficiency Improvement + Specific Consumption Reduction ↓ + Reliability Increase ↑

•Contact Conductivity: Structural regulation of the Ag-Si interdiffusion layer.

•Achieving Both Specific Consumption & Efficiency: Narrow line width & fully open stencil combined with super dense grid.

•Balancing Reliability & Specific Consumption: Further improvement of acetic acid resistance to provide a paste foundation for single and double glass products.

"Global Demand and Technological Trends for PV Silver Paste: Prospects" [SMM Silver Conference]

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Speech Topic: Promotion of the Guangxi China-Malaysia Zhonglianjin Cross-Border E-Commerce Platform

Guest Speaker: Lin Shangtian, Director of Strategic Development, Guangxi China-Malaysia Zhonglianjin Cross-Border E-Commerce Co., Ltd.

1. Establishment Background

China-Malaysia "Two Countries, Twin Parks" - A Flagship Project for Bilateral Cooperation

A New Positioning was Proposed: General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed a major strategic positioning to build the China-Malaysia Investment Cooperation Flagship Project, a Demonstration Zone for China-ASEAN Cooperation, and an Important Node of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

Establishing a New Model: The China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park and Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, known as the "Two Countries, Twin Parks," have pioneered a new model of international cooperation and forged a "sister port" relationship.

Opening a New Channel: Leveraging their respective strengths, the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" serve as a crucial international platform for cross-border industrial cooperation under the "Belt and Road" Initiative, opening up new channels for economic and cultural cooperation between China and ASEAN.

Strategic Investment Entities in the China-Malaysia "Two Countries, Twin Parks"

Opportunities for Silver in Innovative Trade Models [SMM Silver Conference]

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Presentation Topic: Production of Silver-Copper Micro-Nano Powders via Wet Chemical Method

Guest Speaker: Zhang Meng, Director of the Powder R&D Department, Suzhou Xinghan New Material Technology Co., Ltd.

Wet Chemical Production of Silver-Copper Micro-Nano Powders

► Objectives

To provide silver, copper, nickel, silver-coated copper, and silver-coated nickel micro-nano powders on a tonnage scale while ensuring batch-to-batch stability.

► Monitoring Indicators

Morphology, size, particle size distribution, crystallinity, specific surface area, tap density, bulk density, impurity content, resistivity, oxidation resistance resistivity, density, pH, compatibility, etc.

► Challenges

1. Controllable Preparation of Metal Powders

Permutation and combination of parameters: reactants, temperature, pressure, concentration, time, stirring, additives, pH, etc.

Chemical thermodynamics/kinetics, electrochemistry, crystal growth, Ostwald ripening, etc.

2. Scale-up of the System

From mL/g scale to L/kg scale and then to m³/mt scale; three transfers (momentum, heat, mass) and one reaction (chemical reaction), with scale-up effects.

3. Batch-to-Batch Stability

Preparation stage: Determine the process window based on the allowable data fluctuation range. Post-processing stage: sieving, powder mixing, modification, etc., along with cost considerations and quality control.

Wet Chemical Silver Powder

Silver Powder Production: High-purity silver powder is prepared using a liquid-phase chemical method with silver nitrate as the raw material. Particle morphology and size can be controlled by adjusting process parameters such as temperature, reaction time, and reducing agent dosage during the reaction.

Applications: Suitable for silver paste in crystalline silicon solar cells, 5G filters, and low-temperature electronic silver paste applications.

Product Characteristics:

1. Good dispersibility, can be well blended with solvents and organic phases; not prone to agglomeration, easy to formulate into pastes. 2. High crystallinity. 3. Low shrinkage, good filling properties. 4. Low burning loss. 5. Adjustable sintering temperature, good electrical conductivity. 6. The particle size distribution is adjustable from tens of nanometers to several micrometers, primarily including spherical, flake, rod, and wire powders.

• Low-temperature sintered, highly active silver powder

can be pressureless sintered below 150°C, forming an integrated conductive and thermally conductive network with excellent conductive and thermally conductive properties. A stable, integrated conductive and thermally conductive network enables low-temperature sintering and high-temperature service. It is used in fields such as conductive adhesives, thermally conductive adhesives, electronic pastes, and functional device encapsulation.

• One-dimensional silver powder

Conductive inks, transparent electrodes: high conductivity, strong anti-interference capability, high stability, flexibility, and resistance to bending.

Applications of silver powder: PV pastes

Low contact resistance, low line resistance, high filling rate, good printability, and line shape.

Applications of silver powder: conductive/thermally conductive adhesives

The conductive/thermally conductive adhesives formulated by our partner using Xinghan silver powder have a volume resistivity as low as the 10⁻⁶ Ω·cm order of magnitude and a thermal conductivity coefficient of approximately 10 W/m·K.

Wet-chemical silver-coated copper powder

The substitution-reduction method is used to prepare silver-coated copper powder with a dense and uniform coating layer. The developed production process enables efficient coating from submicron to micron scales, and from spherical, flake, and rod shapes.

》Technical Post: Production of Silver-Copper Micro-Nano Powders via Wet-Chemical Method [SMM Silver Conference]

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Speech Topic: The Impact of Silver Powder Morphology on the Conductivity of Low-Temperature Silver Pastes

Guest Speaker: Gu Zhijie, Technical Advisor, Quanda New Materials (Ningbo) Co., Ltd.

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Speech Topic: Application Technology of Micro-Nano Powders for Metallization of Low-Temperature Process PV Cells

Guest Speaker: Zhao Chaohui, R&D Director, Youyan Nano New Materials (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

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Speech Topic: Research and Development of Silver-Based Micro-Nano Conductive Materials and Their Application Studies

Guest Speaker: Yang Hongwei, Research Director/Director, Yunnan Precious Metals Laboratory Co., Ltd./Sino-Platinum Chemical Materials (Yunnan) Co., Ltd.

》Research and Development of Silver-Based Micro-Nano Conductive Materials and Their Application Studies [SMM Silver Conference]

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Speech Topic: Current Status and Future Trends of the Silver Market in 2025

Guest Speaker: Wang Huilin, SMM Silver Analyst

1. Current Status of Silver Mine and Refined Silver Supply

In 2024, the global silver-bearing mineral reserves totaled 640,000 mt in metal content.

Silver associated with polymetallic ores accounts for more than two-thirds of the world's silver mineral resources.

The self-sufficiency rate of domestic silver concentrate is approximately 50%, with imported silver concentrate processing trade being the main trade mode.

In 2024, the annual imports of silver concentrate approached 1.68 million mt. Silver mine resources in South America are the primary source of domestic silver concentrate imports.

Distribution of Domestic Refined Silver Production

In 2024, the production of SMM1# silver exceeded 17,000 mt, with large-scale silver smelting capacity concentrated in Henan, Yunnan, Shandong, and other regions.

The production of SMM1# silver is expected to continue to record positive growth in 2025.

The main sources of silver supply from mining are by-products associated with lead concentrates and copper concentrates.

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May 15

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Enterprise Visit

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2025 SMM (6th) Silver Industry Chain Innovation Conference - Visits to Renowned Enterprises: Quanda New Materials (Ningbo) Co., Ltd. / Ningbo Haoshun Precious Metals Co., Ltd.

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Silver Market Supply and Demand Summit Forum

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Registration & Highlights

(Speech by Yongda Chen, Chairman of Quanda New Materials (Ningbo) Co., Ltd., at the conference dinner ~)

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With this, the 2025 SMM (6th) Silver Industry Chain Innovation Conference has successfully concluded!

Thank you for your attention and support for this summit. See you next year!

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》Special Report on the 2025 SMM (6th) Silver Industry Chain Innovation Conference