Global Silver Vault Stock (in metric tons) - April 2026
Market | This month | Last month | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| LBMA (Total) | 27,454 | 27,487 | -33 |
| ETFs (LBMA vaults) | 20,337 | 20,400 | -63 |
| LBMA Free Float (LBMA-ETFs) | 7,117 | 7,087 | 30 |
| PMBug Estimate LBMA Total | 27,736 | 27,682 | 54 |
| PMBug Estimate LBMA Free Float | 7,399 | 7,282 | 117 |
| COMEX | 9,782.91 | 10,191.36 | -408.45 |
| SLV NYC Vault | 2,649.05 | 2,742.36 | -93.31 |
| COMEX-SLV (free float) | 7,133.86 | 7,449.00 | -315.14 |
| SFE/SGE | 1,367.903 | 659.307 | 708.596 |
| PSLV | 6,744.301 | 6,744.263 | 0.038 |
LBMA April Silver Vault Stock
The LBMA's April silver vault stock report came in claims a total silver vault stock of 27,454t at the end of April. That's right in the middle of my two estimates.
PMBug Estimate
For April, I made two estimates because of the extreme disparity in the UK import/export flow in Jan & Feb versus previous months. The LBMA report seemingly vindicated that effort as their report came in closer to my Jan & Feb skewed estimate.
Considerations
The one month silver lease rate was highly correlated with SLV vault stock flows across the month of April. SLV vault stock drain essentially propped up the LBMA's vault stock in April.
I think the London vaulted ETFs (SLV in particular) have reached the bottom of their wells with respect to draining vault stock and they will likely begin to accumulate again which will put extra pressure on the LBMA in May.
Global Free Float Observations
Using the LBMA's report, the West has an upper bound of ~14,251 metric tons of free float vaulted at the LBMA + COMEX (not owned by ETFs). That's a decrease of ~285 metric tons (9.2M ozt) from last month.
Considering that the London based ETFs shed ~63 metric tons (directly increasing LBMA free float), the COMEX+LBMA net drain makes clear that silver was flowing out of the West in April.
The upper bound total global free float (TGFF) including China (SFE/SGE) is ~15,619t (an increase of ~424t from last month). This should shrink again as ETFs reclaim vault stock.
Global Free Float Value
Last month, I estimated that ~$45.5B was enough to wipe out TGFF. Today I estimate:
LBMA + COMEX only (if China enforces export controls)
14,251t = 458,180,300 ozt x $90/ozt = $41.2B
TGFF (including China)
15,619t = 502,162,500 ozt x $90/ozt = $45.2B
Final Comments
PSLV's silver vault stock is not directly available for settling COMEX or LBMA deliveries, so it is not included in the TGFF - I mention it because every 1,000 ozt that PSLV acquires is an LGD silver bar that is no longer available to the LBMA or global free float for trade settlement.
I am now tracking the global vault stock changes every day/week for the COMEX, SFE/SGE, SLV and PSLV. Of course, there is no daily or weekly data for the LBMA because they are run by dinosaurs. The LBMA apparently thinks their monthly grand total report provides sufficient transparency to their operations as they say:
LBMA said:
I frequently receive comments asking why I bother compiling this data. The comments commonly claim that the numbers are a fraud or they don't matter. Whether or not the numbers are completely accurate or not, they are the only public data we have and they *are* telling a story - revealing the rip currents of physical demand underneath the frothy paper market trading.
March report posted here
Sources:
LBMA: https://www.lbma.org.uk/prices-and-data/london-vault-data
LBMA ETFs:
COMEX: I am saving COMEX silver stock reports and tracking the totals in a spreadsheet now.
SGE/SFE: I am saving SFE/SGE vault totals from Xiaojun Bai's daily X tweets and tracking them in a spreadsheet now.
PSLV: I am saving Sprott's PSLV silver stock data and tracking the totals in a spreadsheet now.