everything wrote:We could be in dip land for years as production ramps up all the way into 2017. Primary silver miners are still opening and ramping up production now.
We
could be flat for years - it has happened before, but there needs to be an explanation for what happened in the past, and what will happen in the future.
Frankly the flatness of price during the 80s was - in large part - due to the giant supply increase created by global termination of silver use in coin, and the return of millions of tons of that coin into recycle, and end of coin demand, which built up large reserves and kept recycle as a large part of the supply for a couple of decades. Everything I'm reading suggests those reserves are being depleted and that there is very little reserve left. At the same time demand is increasing, not only for industrial use, but investment grade silver demand has replaced the former demand by government mints for circulating coin. For example, total silver production in North America (formerly one of the largest areas of silver supply) is now less that the "casual" demand for bullion grade silver bar and coin from the same area - and that doesn't include industrial demand.
Your statements above are contrary to every bit of data I've seen published in the last several years, so while I don't want to drink perma-bull kool-aid, I also want a contrarian discussion to be fact-based. Where's the data or published article that says that production is ramping up? Everything I read says that total global production is essentially peaked and is on the decline. Where's the data or published articles that says that primary silver miners are still opening up and ramping up production now? While that might be technically factual - I'm sure that someone, somewhere, is opening up a silver mine - the vast majority of ounces mined are secondary production to gold, copper, and lead - and mostly copper and lead. And copper and lead production are in peril, with several of the largest mines shut-down or planning to shut-down. The data suggests we are at or very near peak silver, while at the same time global demand is increasing.
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