The global dominant inventory of silver decreased significantly due to consumption and investment de
The dominant inventory of silver mainly includes LBMA inventory, COMEX inventory and the inventory of Shanghai Futures Exchange and Shanghai Financial Exchange. London is still the main trading market for silver spot, and the silver inventory level is far higher than COMEX and domestic exchanges.
Since 2016, the highest level of LBMA inventory is about 36700 tons, the highest level of the total inventory of the Shanghai Futures Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange is about 7500 tons, the highest level of COMEX inventory is about 12500 tons, and the highest level of the total inventory of the three places is about 56700 tons. By the end of 2022, the total inventory is about 40000 tons. Excluding the inventory held by silver ETFs, the global dominant inventory is at a very low level.
In 2022, the inventory of LBMA will decrease by 10000 tons, and the inventory of Shanghai and New York will decrease by about 2000 tons. From the perspective of absolute scale, LBMA inventory decreased the most, while from the perspective of decline, the total inventory of Shanghai Futures Exchange and Shanghai Financial Exchange decreased by about 50% from the high point in October 2020, with the highest decline. The three major markets have seen a sharp decline since the end of 2020. In addition, LBMA inventory is mostly held by silver ETFs. By the end of 2022, the three major funds have a total of 23550 tons of silver inventory, while the total LBMA inventory is 26155 tons, which means that LBMA inventory has only a very low free circulation volume except ETF inventory. LBMA's declining inventory mainly flows to physical demand in India and Canada.
From January to October 2022, the total amount of unwrought silver (silver ingots) exported by Britain was 9967 tons, of which 5531 tons were exported to India, 1241 tons were exported to Canada, and 1043 tons were exported to Switzerland. Due to the impact of the epidemic, India's silver demand was limited in 2020 and 2021, and the silver import volume dropped significantly compared with the historical average level. As the impact of the epidemic subsided and the domestic economy recovered, the silver demand also ushered in an explosive growth, and the silver import volume in 2022 exceeded the historical level. Canada is a major demand country for silver coins and silver bars. Under the influence of many factors such as the Russian-Uzbekistan conflict in 2022 and the persistence of high inflation in major economies, the global demand for physical investment in silver has increased significantly, which has become the main factor to promote the de-stocking of silver.
