Silver prices fluctuate at highs, downstream cautious and waiting, with few transactions [SMM Daily Review]

Silver prices fluctuated at highs during the day, and the spot-futures price spread for SHFE silver 2508-TD did not significantly widen. Some suppliers lowered their premiums to sell inventory. According to SMM, today's cash-on-delivery spot warrant TD premiums for national standard silver ingots in the Shanghai area were quoted at 0-2 yuan/kg, while spot silver ingots from large factories had TD premiums of 2-3 yuan/kg. However, after negotiation, the actual transaction prices for national standard silver ingots tended to be around parity. Additionally, some suppliers offered discounts of 5-8 yuan/kg against the SHFE silver 2508 contract or discounts of 25-28 yuan/kg against the SHFE silver 2510 contract. Recently, silver prices have held up well, and downstream purchasing enthusiasm has significantly declined, with only a small amount of just-in-time buying the dip. As month-end approaches, the situation where smelters close their accounts and settle or only support cargo pick-up for long-term contracts has increased. Both supply and demand in the spot market have declined, with overall market transactions remaining weak.