Industrial demand could limit silver's rapid price rise, Saxo warns

Businessinsider reports that Saxo Bank says silver's rapid price rise may be capped as industrial users begin to cut usage or seek substitutes.

The spot silver price hit a fresh record above $93 per troy ounce this week and is up nearly 26% in 2026 after about a 170% surge in 2025 that outpaced gold's roughly 73% gain. Silver is both a precious metal and a core industrial input for solar panels, electronics, and chips for AI. A physical short squeeze in London amplified last year's surge after inventories were left unusually thin by large flows of metal into US vaults amid tariff concerns, and some major Chinese solar manufacturers, including Longi Green Energy Technology and Jinko Solar, have said they will begin substituting some silver with cheaper base metals.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, warned that "At some price level, fabricators and end users simply cannot absorb higher costs," and that "They either try to pass them on and fail, cut back on purchases, or look for substitutes." He added it may take time before slower buying and the use of existing stockpiles become visible enough to change the broader narrative, and wrote that "Every rally eventually meets its limit, and for silver, the most likely brake is industrial demand destruction."

Key Topics

Business, Silver, Saxo Bank, Ole Hansen, Solar Panels, Jinko Solar