Surging Silver

Readers will have observed that whilst both gold and silver are tracking up lately it is silver that is now outperforming gold and has reduced the ratio from 66:1 down to 61:1 after surging 5% in Aussie terms (despite a strengthening AUD. 10% in USD terms) in just the last few days.  There appear to be a number of things driving this but apart from the same macro-economic drivers it shares with gold, it is its industrial demand that sets it apart.  China is the world’s second biggest consumer of silver.  On the back of recent solar panel news (30/7) and latest data showing an improvement in China’s industrial growth it should see a continuation of its annual double digit consumption growth.  Silver also offers a hedge within a hedge in that if the US recovers strongly and this drives down gold, it is also the world’s biggest consumer.