China’s silver imports set to jump as solar demand lifts prices
Chinese silver imports could surge in coming weeks, as traders take advantage of a jump in demand that’s taken prices well above the international market.
Silver’s in a sweet spot because of its dual uses as an industrial metal and a financial asset. It’s an important material in solar panels, which China continues to build in vast quantities, and it’s also a cheaper alternative to gold, which is setting its own records on price led by Chinese demand.
Although silver prices rose to an 11-year high last week, the arbitrage window — or the spread between Chinese and world prices — has widened even further. That creates the incentive to send more metal to China, potentially squeezing supply for other countries.
“A wave of imports into China is going to drain the free float away from the West even further,” said Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities. That hasn’t been captured by market pricing, he said.
Chinese imports have already been strong in recent months. They hit a three-year high in December of about 390 t before falling back. They jumped again in April to over 340 t. The monthly five-year average is around 310 t.
The premium on Shanghai spot prices climbed above 15% last week, more than compensating for the 13% tax that China imposes on imports. At the same time, Chinese stockpiles of the metal have dwindled due to persistently strong demand from the solar industry in recent years.
“People are taking a look at the drawdown in local silver inventories,” Ghali said. “Silver is probably seen as cheaper relative to gold. And so that’s an attractive proposition for people who want to participate in the precious metals rally.”
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation