Ah crap.The photography thing happened to silver last year.Silver is over it.And no one who brings up this subject ever mentions that 60% of photography silver is recovered. And all those millions of chinese and Indians,who earn some disposable income for the first time in their lives,they will go straight to digital cameras.Sure they will.You can get nice photos with a regular $10 camera.You get crap with a $50 digital camera.
Demand for silver increased in 2005 to the highest level in five years EILEEN ALT POWELL Wed May 24, 3:46 PM ET NEW YORK (AP) - Demand for silver rose in 2005 to the highest level in five years as strength in jewelry and industrial products offset softness in photography and coins, the Silver Institute said Wednesday. The Washington, D.C.-based industry group also said its annual survey indicated that investor demand for silver has been increasing, just as it has been for gold. "For much of 2005, investment demand in silver tracked moves in the gold prices, as well as expectations," the report said. The report, which was prepared by London-based GFMS Ltd., a metals research company, said demand for silver for fabrication totalled 864.4 million troy ounces (26,885 metric tonnes) in 2005, up three per cent from 839.4 million ounces in 2004 and the highest level since 866.8 million ounces in 2001. A metric tonne equals about 2,200 pounds. Nearly half went for industrial products, especially in electronics and electrical sectors, with jewelry and silverware the next largest category. The report said much of the growth in demand for jewelry and silverware was in China and India. "Chinese silver jewelry and silverware demand rose by a stunning 20 per cent in 2005," the report said. "Indian fabrication for this category rose by 8.5 per cent ... while North America experienced its fourth successive year of growth." Production at mines was a record 641.6 million ounces (19,954 metric tons) in 2005, up 3.4 per cent from 620.4 million ounces in 2004. Other sources of silver were government sales and silver scrap. Philip Klapwijk, executive chairman of GFMS Ltd., said in an interview that he expects the price of silver this year to exceed last year's average of $7.31 US per troy ounce. That, in turn, had been up from an average of $6.65 per ounce in 2004. "Year to date, the price through April was above $10 (US)," he said. "I assume May-June will be above $10 as well, so it will be difficult not to see a price average significantly above the $7.31 of last year." In the futures market on Tuesday, silver for July closed up 74 cents at $13.17 US on Comex, a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Canon just announced they will stop development of film cameras, and Nikon has already announced this before. Goodbye film in mass use, large format (think fashion shoots, portraits, art) extinction will follow later when technology matures. Those millions of chinese and indians really will go for digital, just like the chinese jumped immediately to videocd without ever really experiencing VHS. Digital culture is huge in asia.
Hmmm.That report says demand for fabrication was 864 million oz.Mine production was 641 million oz.Gee I wonder what that means.
Demand Fundamentals Total silver fabrication demand, led by surging industrial demand, rose in 2005 to the highest level since 2001, according to the report. Total silver fabrication rose by 3% in 2005, to 864.4 million ounces, largely due to a 10% rise globally in electrical and electronics demand. According to the report, industrial fabrication contributed the most to the increase, with its sharp 11% rise (41 million ounces) to record levels of 409.3 million ounces. Total fabrication demand is now 47% up from 37% ten years ago. Indian offtake in industrial fabrication rose an impressive 58% last year, while Japan experienced a 15% increase; China posted a 6% increase to hit 31.8 million ounces; and the United States topped 100 million ounces. Jewellery and silverware fabrication posted a modest increase by 1% in 2005, to 249.6 million ounces, with much of the growth occurring in China and India, according to GFMS. Chinese silver jewellery and silverware demand rose by a stunning 20% in 2005, to 16.4 million ounces, while Indian demand rose by 8.5% to 48.9 million ounces. Photographic demand decreased by 9%, or just over 16 million ounces last year, to 164.8 million ounces, as output of colour film continues to decline on further digital inroads. Photographic demand accounted for just 19% of fabrication demand in 2005. Total coins and medals fabrication demand decreased by 4% to 40.6 million ounces. Lower minting in a number of European countries, together with some weakness in China, offset increases in the U.S. and Germany. Supply Fundamentals For the 17th consecutive year, a structural deficit was recorded. The gap between fabrication demand and conventional supply (mine production and recycled scrap) was 35.5 million ounces in 2005. Global mine production rose by a solid 3% to a new high of 641.6 million ounces in 2005, pushed by strong growth in Mexico and Australia
how muich is left at comex? where can i see this stat - i cant find it on nymex.... lat i saw i think it was under 100 million oz - that was like in june thx
dow jones has it as a daily item... 10,100 contracts were delivered so far in May, some redelivered I suppose, but that represents 50 million oz....110 million oz. left in the box not sure if the old timers around here have seen this many deliveries before and 20 million oz draw in warehouse stocks over the last 30 days or so..... fun to watch but debateable if it's a trading item or not...a shell game of sorts and some blue smoke look here on the left http://www.nymex.com/sil_pre_agree.aspx
speaking of a shell game ... some HF or large spec has been "spoofing" the market in silver in AH trading in the last few days shows size then --- whoops --- reduces size or goes away from the best bid - best offer shown just a few seconds before ...
30,000 gold contracts delivered today... puts the thrill back into delivery notices which used to be a balloon race spectacle.... maybe a typo