Silver rising party due to industrial demand?

[c1ue]

According to this article, solar accounts for a large and growing chunk of industrial silver demand:

http://www.kitco.com/reports/KitcoNe...AS_silver.html

The range of estimates seems very wide: 18 million to 64 million ounces of silver used for solar.

It is of note that apparently solar panels contain about 2/3rds of a troy ounce of silver.

I'm not really sure how relevant this is - ultimately copper can as easily be used.

Furthermore total silver industrial demand is 878.8 million ounces according to SilverInstitute.org - barring the highest estimate, the present demand ranges from 2% to 3% of total industrial demand.

But interesting nonetheless: that the funneling of subsidy money into PV thus contributes at least in part to silver inflation...

[Ghent12]

Re: Silver rising party due to industrial demand?

According to this article, solar accounts for a large and growing chunk of industrial silver demand:

http://www.kitco.com/reports/KitcoNe...AS_silver.html

The range of estimates seems very wide: 18 million to 64 million ounces of silver used for solar.

It is of note that apparently solar panels contain about 2/3rds of a troy ounce of silver.

I'm not really sure how relevant this is - ultimately copper can as easily be used.

Furthermore total silver industrial demand is 878.8 million ounces according to SilverInstitute.org - barring the highest estimate, the present demand ranges from 2% to 3% of total industrial demand.

But interesting nonetheless: that the funneling of subsidy money into PV thus contributes at least in part to silver inflation...

Strictly speaking, copper cannot "as easily" be used, but it could provide a cheaper alternative that is almost as effective.

[lektrode]

Re: Silver rising party due to industrial demand?

Strictly speaking, copper cannot "as easily" be used, but it could provide a cheaper alternative that is almost as effective.

for solar app, one would think it would have to get a lot more expensive, akin to using high silver content brazing rod when soldering copper, as i wouldnt think it would be more than plating on the traces tween the cells?

but continuing on with this theme:

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-i...falling-2011-5

After last week's manic action, silver is falling out of the bed to start the new week, declining by over 9%.
A few quick thoughts on the weirdness:

• Nobody really knows what's up. Querying around, nobody has any solid sense (yet) of what's driving the decline. There was no particular news that would seem to be feeding into this. Update: There's a little bit of chatter about the weak Chinese PMI report from this morning, but it doesn't seem that convincing or robust of an explanation. There's also talk about margin hiking (which has been going on forever).

• Silver is a major standout. Gold isn't moving the same way. Other commodities are down a bit, and the dollar is up, but not on the same scale.

• US futures remain higher. This is a big surprise, given how consistently silver has traded in the same direction as equities.

Know more: Email us at jweisenthal@businessinsider.com.
Update: Another interesting story. Bolivia is boosting state control of some mines, but not nationalizing silver mines, as some had feared. That may be taking some air out of market

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altho... is is early in the game today - what with OBL an all?



should be an interesting day/overnight for the open in nyc 2morow...

[Spartacus]

Re: Silver rising party due to industrial demand?

I expected a dip on NY opening, not on Asian opening today because CME raised margin requirements for a 2nd time last week on Friday, to take effect on closing.

Not like this though ... the Sunday Asian opening has been a consistent plus-side for a while now.

Just reinforces my usual warning to be ready for anything if you get into the Silver market.

for solar app, one would think it would have to get a lot more expensive, akin to using high silver content brazing rod when soldering copper,

should be an interesting day/overnight for the open in nyc 2morow...

[Fiat Currency]

Re: Silver rising party due to industrial demand?

... Not like this though ... the Sunday Asian opening has been a consistent plus-side for a while now.

Just reinforces my usual warning to be ready for anything if you get into the Silver market.

Isn't it Labour Day in a lot of Asia?

Pretty easy to manipulate that market with only "light" players around the fringes. Let's see what it does this week.