Silver demand to fall 7% in 2014 – Thomson Reuters GFMS

Jon Gold, Market Commentary, Precious Metals, Silver

Demand for silver will post a 7% decline in 2014 because of a slower pace of buying by jewellers and industrial fabricators in the first three quarters of the year, metals consultant Thomson Reuters GFMS said on Tuesday.    
Harmonized European sales tax rates that started in January have driven up retail silver investment product prices, reducing demand on the continent, the Thomson Reuters unit said in an interim market review.     
Thomson Reuters GFMS said it expected total physical demand, which includes jewellery, coins and bars, silverware and industrial fabrication, to fall 6.7% to 31,243.44 tonnes in 2014 from a record high of 33,498.44 tonnes last year.    
Silver industrial demand is forecast to drop 1.8% as the electronics sector keeps shifting to cheaper metals. Jewellery consumption should fall 4.4% because retailers are pushing more gold products to take advantage of lower bullion prices, GFMS said.     For the full year, Thomson Reuters GFMS now forecasts silver prices to average $19/oz an ounce, a 20% decline from $23.79/oz in 2013.

This post was published at Mining Weekly