Our world is quite literally running out of silver. World demand for silver exceeds annual production and has every year since 1990! Above ground stockpiles of silver are low and shrinking rapidly.
At the same time, demand for silver is growing everyday. Investment demand for silver is building throughout the world and could increase greatly in the months and years ahead. New uses for silver include “invisible silver,” which is a transparent coating of silver on double-pane thermal windows, high-temperature superconductor (HTS) electrical transmission wire for the world’s power grid systems, and silver-based biocide, an alternative treatment for wood preservation.
New industrial uses for silver are continually being developed, further increasing the demand for this precious metal. And this new demand is occurring at a time when easily available supplies of silver are quickly disappearing.
Silver has always had industrial as well as monetary value. Unlike gold, which is held and hoarded, the majority of silver is consumed in manufacturing processes, effectively depleting the available supplies. China and India, the world’s fastest-growing industrial powerhouses, are consuming silver (and other metals) at an incredible rate as they continually expand their manufacturing capacity. Other Asian countries, most notably Japan, are also significant buyers of sliver for industrial purposes as well as an investment.
Looking at the current supply-and-demand picture for silver, given its current price levels we believe silver may have even greater potential to realize increases in value than gold does. Indeed, our analysts suggest that silver will provide the greater opportunity for realizing profits in precious metals trading for the next 20 years. We are not alone in our thinking. Warren Buffet, chairman of Berkshire—Hathaway and considered by many to be the world’s most successful investor, is said to own over 100 million ounces of silver. And Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s richest men, recently acquired more than a 10 percent interest in a leading silver producer with nearly 750
Million ounce silver reserves.