With American silver investment demand continuing to be very strong this year, the U.S. is importing even more silver. The U.S. market is now acquiring metal from Turkey, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan to access more silver. While the U.S. receives most of its silver from Mexico and Canada, it imported nearly 10 million oz of silver from those four countries.
According to the USGS Silver Mineral Industry Surveys, total U.S. silver imports reached nearly 4,000 metric tons (mt) in the first seven months of the year. The chart below shows the cumulative increase in U.S. silver imports from January to July 2021.
From Jan-July 2021, the U.S. imported 126 million oz (Moz) of silver at a total value of $3.43 billion… with an average spot price of $27.22. What a difference from the average price last year when the U.S. silver imports for Jan-July 2020 were 118 Moz at an average of $18.68.
With the big price surge of silver in July 2020, the U.S. imported a record 1,060 mt or 34 Moz in just one month. This pushed up the total cumulative U.S. silver imports to 3,677 mt (118 Moz) versus the 3,920 mt (126 Moz) during the same period this year.
So, where did all this silver come from? As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, most silver comes from the United States’ two closest neighbors, Mexico and Canada. The U.S. imported over 2,000 mt of its silver from Mexico and Canada during the first seven months of 2021. Third place was Switzerland at 465 mt, followed by Poland at 361 mt. These were the four largest sources of U.S. silver imports.
What was interesting this year is that the U.S. acquired silver from Turkey, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, four countries that it typically doesn’t import from. Turkey was the sixth-largest source at 140 mt, with Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan accounting for a total of 157 mt. Thus, these four countries shipped nearly 300 mt or 10 million oz of silver to the United States in just the first seven months of the year.
It will be interesting to see what the U.S. silver imports will be for the remaining months in 2021. With India now importing a lot of silver since September, this could get very interesting as the world begins to wake up that SILVER is one of the few HIGH-QUALITY stores of value.
I also wanted to let you know that CLOUD HARD ASSETS sells Silver Krugerrands & Silver Philharmonics (& Britannias) at only $3.50 over spot. If you go to the large online dealers and compare prices, you will find out that Cloud Hard Assets has the best prices. Also, Cloud Hard Assets puts your funds in an ESCROW ACCOUNT until the metal is shipped, and this protects the clients’ funds. I find that this is an excellent service not offered by many dealers in the industry.
You can contact Tom, Dan, or Jade… Click here: CLOUD HARD ASSETS. You can also call (800) 247-2812.
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“With American silver investment demand continuing to be very strong this year, the U.S. is importing even more silver.”
Do you have any information on any uptick in purchasing that may have come from industry, gearing up for government mandated green-utopia [since the economy is “recovering” post-lockdown]?
Obviously an acceptable price was paid that allowed this valuable element to be: “Pulling Supply From Turkey, Russia, Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan”.
That is of interest to me. Who is willing to let it go for a small amount of currency. But for now I guess it’s still King Dollar, and they need them.
Yep
DC,
I just heard that the Turkish Lira is crashing again. They are getting desperate. A few dollars would shore up their accounts.
The ‘Stans could always use a few bucks. 62 metric tons: From Russia with Love.
3,920 metric tons. Yes, but how many ounces is that?
Answer: a little over 125,000,000 oz. YES!
This is why there are so many container ships stranded off the coast of Kalifornia.
Thanks Steve for all of your efforts of research and studying and putting out this information out for us to be informed of what is going on.
“From Jan-July 2021, the U.S. imported 126 million oz (Moz) of silver at a total value of $3.43 billion… with an average spot price of $27.22.”
Wow! That is is a lot of silver that the US is importing to meet investment demand! Considering that the institutional buyers have not even really started to start purchasing silver yet, it is amazing that the price of silver is still under $30.00 an oz. I still believe that silver is the most under valued asset on earth and will richly reward those who have the patience to purchase, hold, sit still and have the available resources that all nations will need in order to build the green electric world they have planned! Yes I am aware of the coming energy cliff and all the more reason to invest in the physical for the long haul. At some point in the near future, demand is going to overrun available supply and you will see silver become the precious metal that all will want and need!
I suspect industry has had to buy a lot for solar panels, etc.
Not much reason to stockpile or even buy if the industry couldn’t operate due to lock downs.
8Steve, We imported 126m ounces thus far and global mined silver is around 700 mil ounces per year(give or take a 100). Is the silver we imported mined in those countries? Or is that just changing hands from previously mined silver?