But where is that demand coming from? Silver prices didn't go up when we switched to silver solder. The only reason for silver to have been rising in the last few years is speculative demand because there are no new large scale applications or scaled uses that line up with price changes. Yes demand is up, but not from using that much more silver in things, but to hold onto silver as an investment or to hedge against inflation. Just like how golds industrial value is not nearly as high as its speculative value, but industrial users still have to pay the price that speculators are paying to get it.
It’s probably all of these factors, but price is going up due to supply inelasticity.
It’s similar to oil: demand is what it is, and even if it doesn’t fluctuate much, a refinery exploding or political instability in a producer nation can cause prices to rise by large amounts, even if supply only drops by a few hundred thousand barrels per year.
In the 1980’s when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the market, households responded by liquidating their Sterling silver and other silver items. That’s ultimately why their strategy failed. Today that domestic source of supply is much smaller, contributing even more to supply inelasticity.
This is more of a supply story than a demand story.
In 2014, the solar sector only accounted for around 11 percent of silver demand. That rose to 29 percent in 2024.
According to a research paper by scientists at the University of New South Wales, solar manufacturers will likely require over 20 percent of the current annual silver supply by 2027. By 2050, solar panel
What about PVs and power electronics? My understanding is that TOPCon PVs use substantially more silver per watt than previous generations. China decided to stop exporting silver and there is currently a substantial premium for physical delivery in Shanghai vs cash settlement in COMEX..
