Silver Price Soars Past $51 as Historic Squeeze Rocks Market
Supply deficits and surging industrial demand from green energy sectors fuel the rally, echoing the historic Hunt brothers era.
Silver prices surged to multi-year highs, briefly topping $51 an ounce in a historic market squeeze driven by a severe supply deficit and soaring industrial demand. The rally has drawn comparisons to the infamous Hunt brothers' attempt to corner the market in 1980, with dwindling physical inventories in the key London hub intensifying supply concerns and fueling bullish sentiment.
The extraordinary price movement is underpinned by a multi-year structural supply deficit, where consumption has consistently outpaced new mine production. This imbalance is exacerbated by an insatiable appetite for silver in the green energy sector, particularly for manufacturing solar panels and electric vehicles. , this price-inelastic industrial demand now accounts for over half of annual global consumption.
Investors are piling into the metal, with significant inflows observed in silver-backed ETFs like the iShares Silver Trust (SLV). The squeeze is most evident in London, where to cover short positions as available stockpiles shrink. With lease rates for borrowing the metal reaching astronomical levels, the physical tightness points to a fundamental repricing of silver, distinguishing this rally from purely speculative events of the past. The market is now closely watching whether these supply constraints will lead to a sustained period of higher prices, as .