Silver Demand Drivers

Voodoo said:

Texas saw that $350 Million solar field destroyed by hail. That was approx, lets say 130 to 150 mg / cell. Of course they don't define what each cell is but we'll have to assume. They do say that current cell output is ~4.7 Watts. So we can use that number.

Amount of silver needed in solar cells to be more than halved by 2028, Silver Institute says

The US-based industry association finds the amount of silver loading may fall from 130 mg per cell in 2016 to approximately 65 mg by 2028. Alternative and cheaper raw materials, such as copper and aluminum, are not expected to replace silver in commercial cell production, at least in the next...

www.pv-magazine.com

Green Energy Beaten Black And Blue: Video Shows Massive Hail Damage To Texas Solar Farm | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

So 350 MW / 4.7 Watts = about 74.5 million cells x 140 mg/cell = 10,425 grams of silver. So that hail storm destroyed panels with approx 325,000 ounces of silver. About 10 tons of silver. Ok then. I'd take it.

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pmbug said:

I went back and revisited Ronan Manley's report (cited in post #9) to compare his numbers against the latest data.
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• LBMA - As at end March 2024, ... There were also 25,612 tonnes of silver ... SLV report for 11 April claims 334.8 mtoz vaulted in London. That leaves a total of 488.6 mtoz of silver in the London vaults not owned by ETFs. This compares to 595.87 mtoz reported at the end of January.
• COMEX - As of April 10, 291 mtoz registered + eligible - 103.1 mtoz owned by SLV = 187.9 mtoz not owned by ETFs. This compares to ~173 mtoz reported at the end of January.
• SFE/SGE - As of April 11 (roughly - SFE is exact, SGE number is from week of April 1-5), 2,530,760 kg or 81.3 mtoz. This compares to 78.5 mtoz reported at the end of January.

On the heels of 2022’s record use of silver in industrial applications, a new record high was set in 2023 at 654.4 million ounces (Moz). Ongoing structural gains from green economy applications underpinned these advances as they did in 2022. Higher than expected photovoltaic (PV) capacity additions and faster adoption of new-generation solar cells raised global electrical & electronics demand by a substantial 20 percent. At the same time, other green-related applications, including power grid construction and automotive electrification, also contributed to the gains.

Overall, silver demand exceeded silver supply in 2023 for the third consecutive year, resulting in a structural market deficit of 184.3 Moz.
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pmbug said:

Silver Industrial Demand Rose 11 Percent to Post A New Record in 2023 |

www.silverinstitute.org

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Viking said:

That was me again. I am starting to run out of room though.

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... silver is set to benefit from the global 5G rollout for years to come, according to analysts at Heraeus.
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... , the analysts expect that the increasing demand for 5G technology will continue to support silver demand over the longer term.

“Silver is used in semiconductors, consumer electronics, automobile electronics and infrastructure hardware, which would all benefit from the penetration of a 5G ecosystem, given the necessity of higher-density infrastructure for good signal coverage,” they said. “In 2022, sales of 5G mobile devices marginally surpassed those of their 4G counterparts for the first time, capturing 53% of the market share compared to 4G’s 45%. In 2023, this gap widened further, with 5G device sales climbing to 60%, while 4G devices declined to 40%.”

The rollout of 5G infrastructure in emerging markets also bodes well for silver. “For example, key Indian telecom operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are targeting nationwide 5G coverage by 2024, a move that could significantly enhance applications in the world’s second-largest population.”
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• LBMA - As at end April 2024, ... There were also 25,470 tonnes of silver ... SLV report for 9 May claims 320.8 mtoz vaulted in London. That leaves a total of 498.1 mtoz of silver in the London vaults not owned by ETFs. This compares to 488.6 mtoz reported at the end of March.
• COMEX - As of May 7, 276.2 mtoz registered + eligible - 103.1 mtoz owned by SLV = 173.1 mtoz not owned by ETFs. This compares to ~187.9 mtoz reported at the end of March.
• SFE/SGE - As of May 10 (SFE) and April 30 (SGE), 2,252,520 kg or 72.4 mtoz. This compares to 81.3 mtoz reported at the end of March.