RE: Next Leg Up17 Jan 2026 17:49
From FT article today -
At Sharps Pixley, a bullion dealer in London, UK manager Giles Maber said products were flying out the door amid a “physical run on silver” that is unprecedented.
“Anything that comes in, in the morning, is gone by lunchtime,” said Maber. “Customers are asking us for anything that we have got.”
Popular products such as capital gains tax-free silver coins have also sold out — the UK’s Royal Mint informed its dealers on Thursday of an unusual four-to-six-week wait until it can replenish stocks.
The rising silver holdings of ETFs mean that the “free float” — readily available material in the London market — is lower than normal. Although the amount of silver in the City’s vaults has been rising in recent months, the majority of this is locked up by the ETFs and not readily available to the market, according to analysts.
Last year, a huge silver stockpile built up in the US over fears that President Trump might tariff the metal — although those fears have now eased, prompted silver to start flowing back to London.
At the same time, China tightened its rules for silver export licences at the start of this year, leading to fears the country could start to restrict silver flows.
Thinner inventories create conditions for squeezes, where rallies accelerate as investor flows absorb remaining metal in the London vaults,” wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Lina Thomas in a client note.
Those meagre inventories have pushed up silver lease rates — the cost of borrowing metals — which hit record highs late last year but eased off slightly this week.
Unlike gold, silver is widely used in industrial applications — from solar panels to electric vehicles to electronics — which typically account for as much as half of annual global silver demand.
“Silver has become like a crypto asset, because of its volatility,” said Nicky Shiels, an analyst at MKS Pamp, adding that the price surge could “kill off industrial demand and jewellery demand”.
But at Dillon Gage, there is no sign of a let-up in demand. The refinery is reporting a three-week turnaround time for its silver refining lines, which normally take just 48 hours.
“There is not a shortage in silver,” says Hanlon. “The hang-up is that there is so much metal coming in from sources that are not pure product.”
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