International silver market

World silver production

Silver production is mainly divided into mineral silver and regenerated silver; Based on the fact that most of the silver mineral resources are associated, the silver mineral can be divided into independent silver ore, primary silver mineral, and copper, lead, zinc and other basic metals, associated by-products of silver; The regenerated silver is mainly recovered from silver containing solid waste (such as valuable waste residue, waste parts, etc.), plating solution for precious metal surface treatment, fixing waste liquid development and other waste liquids in the photographic industry. The world's mineral silver production is mainly concentrated in countries and regions with relatively rich silver resources, while the production of recycled silver is mainly concentrated in some major silver consuming countries. At present, China, Peru, Mexico, Australia, Bolivia, Russia, Chile, the United States, Poland and Kazakhstan are the world's top 10 silver producing countries. According to the statistics of the World Silver Association and China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, the output of mineral silver in these 10 countries was 19268 tons in 2010, accounting for more than 80% of the global total output of mineral silver.

World silver consumption

The world's physical consumption of silver mainly comes from industrial manufacturing, photography, jewelry, silverware and coinage seals (the statistics here do not include silver demand derived from financial investment). In the traditional silver consumption field, the demand for silver from photography industry is declining due to the development of digital technology, but still occupies a certain proportion; The consumption of silver in the industrial sector and jewelry industry shows an overall growth trend driven by economic growth, and industrial demand is greatly affected by the economic fluctuation cycle. Silver consumption in the global photographic industry continues to decline. As the traditional silver halide process is gradually replaced by digital technology, silver consumption in the photographic industry is expected to continue to decline. In 2010, the global silver demand for jewelry fell by 2.2%. Among them, the demand of developed countries such as the United States and Europe has declined significantly, while that of emerging economies such as China and India has increased. Since 2010 is a very auspicious year in Indian traditional culture, the increase of weddings or celebration ceremonies has obviously promoted silver consumption.

World Silver Trade

The global silver trade mainly occurs in the United States, Britain, Japan, India, Italy, Hong Kong, China and mainland China. At present, the two major centers of global silver trade and transaction are London in the UK and New York in the US. LBMA is the world's largest spot silver trading market; The COMEX branch of CME Group is the most influential futures exchange for silver trading in the world.

Due to the small output of mineral silver and recycled silver in European countries, and the developed silver jewelry industry in European countries such as Italy, which consumes a large amount of silver every year, Europe has become one of the world's major silver importing regions. The existence of LBMA and other markets has promoted the flow and trade of silver in this region to be frequent. At present, China is the world's largest silver producer, and for many years, China has been one of the world's major silver exporters.

Domestic silver market

Silver production

China's silver production mainly comes from copper, lead and zinc metal by-products, and the rest comes from renewable and independent silver mines. As the domestic production of copper, lead and zinc increased significantly, the domestic silver production also increased. At present, the main domestic lead and zinc production provinces are Henan, Hunan and Yunnan, while the main copper production provinces are Jiangxi, Anhui, Yunnan, etc. Therefore, the major silver producing provinces in China are still concentrated in Hunan, Henan, Yunnan and Jiangxi. In recent years, China's silver production has continued to grow. According to the statistics of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, the total output of silver in China was 1908 tons in 2001 and 11617 tons in 2010. According to the total output statistics (the statistical caliber of primary mineral silver output of non overseas institutions), China's total silver output has ranked first in the world.

Silver consumption

Silver is traditionally used as currency and for making handicrafts and jewelry. With the rise of modern industry, the application field of silver has expanded from jewelry, utensils and coin making to photography, electronics, and even national defense, aerospace, medicine and other industries, becoming an important member of the industrial metal family and playing a decisive role in the national economy.

In recent years, China's rapid economic growth has promoted the continuous growth of silver demand, and China has become one of the countries with the largest silver demand potential in the world. The total silver consumption in China was 1525 tons in 2001 and 5700 tons in 2010. In recent years, due to the progress of digital technology, silver consumption in photographic materials, the most traditional industrial application of silver, has decreased year by year; With the continuous development of electronic industry, silver deep processing industry has developed rapidly. At present, the consumption structure of silver in China is roughly 37% in electronics and electrical industry, 23% in silver based alloys and solders, 31% in silver handicrafts and jewelry, 4% in photosensitive materials, and 5% in other fields such as antibacterial.

Silver import and export

After the opening of the silver market on January 1, 2000, China's silver industry policy is mainly reflected in the field of trade circulation, and the specific policy is the import and export trade policy. At present, the import of silver is liberalized, and 17% value-added tax is levied on imported silver concentrate and silver products.

The export of silver is subject to quota management. Since July 1, 2007, the export tax rebate rate of silver and its related products has been reduced from 13% to 5%. From August 1, 2008, the export tax rebate rate of 5% silver has been cancelled. China mainly imports silver processing products and exports silver primary products, such as silver ingots. Due to the rapid development of lead, zinc and copper industry, the output of silver, a by-product, has increased significantly, and the surplus silver needs to be exported. From 2001 to 2009, the export volume of silver ingots (unwrought silver) increased from 1199 tons to 3554 tons in 2009, an increase of 196%. China became one of the most important silver suppliers in the world. After the cancellation of the silver export tax rebate policy in 2008, silver exports showed a downward trend. In 2010, 1422 tons of silver ingots were exported, down 60% year on year, and 3174 tons of semi manufactured silver were imported, down 8.79%.