Silver Demand Drivers (and vault totals)
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Update (all values in metric tons) (see post #282 for last month):
* London ETF numbers through Nov 27 for most ETFs, through Nov 28 for SLV.
If these numbers are to be believed (and I do not believe the LBMA number), the West has roughly 16,937 metric tons vaulted at LBMA + COMEX not owned by ETFs. That's a decrease of 661 metric tons over last month's report which might seem reasonable except for the India issue:
Given the India issue, I would have expected to see the LBMA vault stock be at least ~500 metric tons less than what they are reporting.
Accepting the LBMA numbers are real, the total global free float including China (SFE/SGE) is 18,183 metric tons (a decrease of ~911 tonnes). That's a ~4.8% drop in one month (and likely higher if I'm right about the LBMA overstating their vault stock).
PSLV's silver vault stock is not directly available for settling COMEX or LBMA deliveries, so it is not included in free float totals - I include 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. PSLV had a quiet month in November adding just 10% of what was added in October.
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:
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.
India October import data
Sources:
LBMA: https://www.lbma.org.uk/prices-and-data/london-vault-data
LBMA ETFs:
^ and my own spreadsheet tracking of SLV inventory
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.
Global Vault Stock (in tons) - November 2025
Market | This month | Last month | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| LBMA (total) | 27,187 | 26,255 | 932 |
| London vaulted ETFs* | 21,317 | 20,450 | 867 |
| LBMA-ETFs (free float)* | 5,870 | 5,805 | 65 |
| COMEX | 14,183.02 | 15,002.46 | -819.44 |
| SLV NYC Vault | 3,115.67 | 3,209.14 | -93.47 |
| COMEX-SLV (free float) | 11,067.35 | 11,793.32 | -725.97 |
| SFE/SGE | 1,246.077 | 1,495.854 | -249.777 |
| PSLV | 6,363.932 | 6,345.231 | 18.701 |
If these numbers are to be believed (and I do not believe the LBMA number), the West has roughly 16,937 metric tons vaulted at LBMA + COMEX not owned by ETFs. That's a decrease of 661 metric tons over last month's report which might seem reasonable except for the India issue:
- The LBMA likely overstated last month's vault stock number by at least 150 metric tons given Indian import data for October (see below for details)
- India surely was buying more silver in the month of November (they were projected to buy at least 1,000 tons)
Given the India issue, I would have expected to see the LBMA vault stock be at least ~500 metric tons less than what they are reporting.
Accepting the LBMA numbers are real, the total global free float including China (SFE/SGE) is 18,183 metric tons (a decrease of ~911 tonnes). That's a ~4.8% drop in one month (and likely higher if I'm right about the LBMA overstating their vault stock).
PSLV's silver vault stock is not directly available for settling COMEX or LBMA deliveries, so it is not included in free float totals - I include 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. PSLV had a quiet month in November adding just 10% of what was added in October.
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.
India October import data
Sources:
LBMA: https://www.lbma.org.uk/prices-and-data/london-vault-data
LBMA ETFs:
^ and my own spreadsheet tracking of SLV inventory
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.
Viking
Yellow Jacket
I know.
I'll take Two.... Just put it on my credit will ya.
Viking
Yellow Jacket
I'm at the end of a dirt road, so I always have to time my deliveries for when it has been dry, no rain for a while. Otherwise, those trucks get stuck.