Silver Prices Hit 13-Year High, But Still Trail Gold’s 2025 Rally

The price of silver (XAG/USD) rallied more than 3.5% on Thursday to hit a 13-year high as the commodity’s safe-haven status and projections of a demand-supply mismatch appear to have spurred buying. 

Silver futures traded at $36.27 per ounce in morning trade, reaching levels not seen since March 2012, according to TradingView. 

The iShares Silver Trust (SLV), the largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, traded 3.7% higher in midday trade.

The price of silver has appreciated by more than 20% this year. However, it still lags behind the surge in gold prices (XAU/USD), which have seen an uptick of more than 28%. 

Gold futures edged 0.14% lower in morning trade on Thursday.

According to analysts, the prices for both precious metals are being driven by safe-haven buying. Renewed geopolitical and economic tensions, like the Trump administration’s policies and the Russia-Ukraine war, have fueled their rally.

“After lagging behind gold for several weeks, silver is now catching up,” Alexander Zumpfe, senior trader at German gold refiner Heraeus Group, told Bloomberg. 

That suggests “renewed interest from momentum-driven investors who are rotating into silver,” he added.

Silver also drew support from strong inflows into silver-backed exchange-traded funds, which added 2.2 million ounces on Wednesday, according to data cited by Bloomberg.

A recent survey by the Silver Institute estimated that the supply of silver was approximately 15% lower than demand in 2024 and projected another deficit for 2025.

It cited that demand has been surging in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, which makes solar panels, and has also benefited from applications linked to artificial intelligence. The has also been an uptick in demand from the automotive and aerospace industries.

Broader markets also showed recovery after confirmation that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first phone call since Trump’s inauguration, which lasted around 90 minutes. 

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) rose 0.4%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100, gained 0.70%. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) was 0.32% higher.

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Read also: Trump, Xi Jinping Hold First Call Since Inauguration Amid US-China Trade Tensions