Is there a Silver shortage?

Silver has substantially outperformed gold over the past several years. If these two precious metals are not trading in parity then surely there must be some reason for the silver bull run. Many experts believe the silver bull run is far from over and maintain that investors looking to protect their hard-earned wealth continue to increase their exposure to gold and silver as an investment.

It may be speculating as to whether investing in silver on spikes would be considered chasing silver or not. A more disciplined method of investing in silver is to avoid overpaying and using temporary price declines to steadily accumulate silver bullion. This strategy is more inclined to provide long-term investment value to a serious investor who is looking for long-term wealth preservation.

Uses for Silver are Growing:

Data suggest that the uses for silver are growing and industrial demand is depleting readily available sources of silver. With the demand increasing at a more advanced rate than the supply, the shortage of silver in the precious metals market has produced higher spot prices on silver bullion.

The driving force behind the industrial demand for silver is clearly electronics with solar panels and biocide steadily increasing. With all the new electronic devices being invented and manufactured today, that demand can only increase with no major increase in supply. In fact since 1999 the electronic consumption of silver has increased 120%. Silver has been used in solar panels since 2000 with the usage up 640% to date.

Biocides, which are antibacterial agents, first used silver in 2002 and now it’s usage has grown 600%. It has been predicted that the total industrial usage of silver will increase 36% over the next five years to 666 million troy ounces per year. Referring to previous realizations that the silver bull run was caused by an increase in industrial demand this equates to the next 5 years seeing a similar pattern in silver prices.

» Contact Cornerstone Asset Metals today to learn more about buying silver as an investment.

Past performance is not an indication of future potential values.