Silver Prices Consolidate at High Levels, Downstream Sector Cautious in Purchasing and Adopting a Wait-and-See Approach [SMM Daily Review]

Precious metals prices edged up today, with the spot-futures price spread for the SHFE silver 2510 contract-TD widening. Some major smelter silver ingot suppliers offered discounts of 15 yuan/kg against the SHFE silver October contract, but transactions were thin. According to SMM, mainstream quotations for standard silver ingot warrants in Shanghai with cash payment and spot delivery were at premiums of 0-3 yuan/kg against TD for just-in-time procurement transactions. A few suppliers sold at discounts of 2-0 yuan/kg against TD. In Jiangxi, smelters' cargoes self-picked up from production site were still quoted at discounts of 1 yuan/kg against TD, while a smelter in Inner Mongolia offered discounts of 11 yuan/kg against TD. With silver prices consolidating at high levels, downstream procurement enthusiasm remained weak, mainly focused on just-in-time procurement. Some market traders were cautious about buying at high levels, and overall market transactions were sluggish.