Green Industry Wants More Silver.

Some of the major industries that continually demand silver include jewelry production, cars, electronics, and solar panels. 2021 saw an impressive rebound in demand for the metal after the detrimental influence of the pandemic, but last year was when all demand categories surged significantly. Industry demanded 5% more silver than the year before; physical bullion purchases increased by 22%; jewelry demand jumped by a huge 29%; and silverware by as much as 80%. The latter two demand sources were chiefly located in India, where demand got a major push due to an improvement in incomes.

Of all demand sources, "the largest segment of silver demand is industrial, [which equates] to almost 50% of total demand", explained Nicky Shiels of MKS PAMP near the beginning of 2023. In fact, says Shiels, industry is demanding so much silver that it's putting a strain on supply, which may come short by 100 million ounces in the next five years. Mines struggle to churn out the quantities of silver that are needed and production actually dropped slightly last year. In particular, the lead and zinc mines in China and Peru that produce silver as a byproduct came out with much less of the precious metal.

In this article, we'll speak about the prospects for continued demand growth from green industry, and what this might mean for silver prices. We'll also look at how anti-carbon-dioxide legislation in the US could impact the EV market, which is a big demand source for silver. If you plan to engage in CFD commodity trading with silver, join us for a useful check-in on the industry.

Solar PV

"Solar PV is now the biggest industrial usage of silver" wrote analyst Chen Lin in March this year, referring to the photovoltaic power-producing technology that made up as much as 12% of global silver demand in 2022. Surprisingly, according to the IEA (International Energy Agency), solar PV is growing so much that will be outshining coal, hydropower, and natural gas in terms of power produced by as soon as 2027.

These days, generating 100 gigawatts of power from a Solar PV requires about 50 million ounces of silver, so the PV growth portends well for silver prices. The other material that may benefit in the commodity trading arena is tellurium, which is also needed in order to make solar panels. Demand for both metals is expected to rise dramatically in the next several years. It's true that developers are trying to make solar panels more silver-economical, but that doesn't...