Boosted by safe-haven demand, silver becomes a new favorite, and silver prices hit a 13-year high

The Zhitong Finance App learned that as investors' demand for safe-haven properties of precious metals expanded from gold to silver, the price of silver futures soared to the highest level in more than 13 years on Thursday. According to the data, Comex July silver futures rose 4% to $36.03 an ounce on Thursday, and once rose to $36.27 intraday, the highest level since February 2012. In contrast, gold futures did not change much on the same day.

Silver has risen by more than 20% over the past year, but it still lags behind the gains of gold. Over the past 12 months, gold has risen 44% because the escalating tariff war has enhanced the safe-haven appeal of gold, while central banks have also maintained high purchase levels.

The gold-silver ratio (gold-silver ratio), which measures the relative value of gold to silver, is currently close to 94. In contrast, the ratio reached 105 in April this year, the highest level since May 2020. Analysts said that due to concerns about the economy — about 70% of silver demand comes from industrial uses, silver's relatively poor performance compared to gold has led to a decline in this ratio.

At the same time, the price of silver was also boosted by large inflows of capital into silver ETFs. On Wednesday alone, silver ETF holdings increased 2.2 million ounces, according to data. Although the structural imbalance between supply and demand continues, the silver market is expected to experience a structural supply gap for the fifth year in a row in 2025, but according to the Silver Association's forecast, this gap is expected to shrink by 21% in 2025.