'Sharks' dumped nearly 100 tons of silver in just one week.

In just one week, a "shark" aggressively sold nearly 100 tons of silver amidst a lack of significant price surges for the precious metal.

In just one week, iShares Silver Trust (SLV), the world's largest silver fund, sold off nearly 100 tons of silver. Photo: Bloomberg .

After two sessions of "tiny" net buying of 0.02 tons, iShares Silver Trust (SLV), the world's largest silver fund managed by BlackRock, reversed course and sold heavily in the last trading session of May. Specifically, this "shark" sold a net of approximately 59 tons of silver, bringing its total holdings down to just over 15,120 tons. Overall, in the trading week of May 26-29, SLV sold off a total of 96 tons of silver.

The move to sell nearly 100 tons of silver comes amid continued downward pressure on global silver prices. Data from the COMEX exchange shows that silver prices fluctuated around $75 per ounce last week, even falling to around $71 per ounce at times, marking the third consecutive week of decline for the precious metal, according to Kitco.

Experts believe the silver market continues to struggle as prices remain stuck below $75 per ounce. While silver prices may rise higher towards the end of the year, a major bank warns that the precious metal faces numerous obstacles due to changing industrial demand.

In their latest report on precious metals, Bank of America (BofA) commodity analysts said they remain optimistic that silver prices could reach $100 per ounce in the fourth quarter of this year, but that such an upward trend will be difficult to sustain.

"While the upward momentum in gold could once again push silver prices above $100 per ounce in the coming months, we believe silver will not be able to sustain a significant surge due to weakening underlying demand," the analysts stated. In the long term, BofA forecasts silver prices will return to around $75 per ounce by Q2 2027.

According to experts, the biggest obstacle for silver is its excessively high price, which is forcing industries that consume large amounts of silver to find ways to reduce their use or replace it with cheaper materials.

Demand from this sector peaked last year when silver prices soared. This has forced manufacturers to find ways to reduce their use of the precious metal. These difficulties are further exacerbated by the slowdown in solar panel production in China and the potential decline in the number of new solar power installations this year.

Although demand for silver in some other sectors continues to rise, its scale is too small to create a significant boost to overall industrial demand.

BofA also warned that higher silver prices could quickly lead the market back to a state of oversupply due to declining industrial demand. "As silver prices rise almost exponentially, solar panel manufacturers face significant profit margin pressure, which in turn drives efforts to reduce or eliminate silver from industrial products," the report stated.

Reduced silver usage means the silver supply deficit could decrease by as much as 90% this year. In fact, the size of the silver market deficit in 2026 is projected to be so small that any wave of profit-taking from investors could reverse the supply-demand balance, bringing the market back to a state of oversupply.

Given this situation, BofA believes that silver will increasingly be traded as a precious metal rather than an industrial metal. "Investors could be the deciding factor in future price trends," experts predict.

Silver has outperformed gold recently thanks to stable industrial demand, a factor contributing to a supply deficit for the sixth consecutive year.

Meanwhile, gold is facing more difficulties as it has become an overvalued asset. Rising interest rates and expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) may continue to raise interest rates ahead of the end of the year have increased the opportunity cost of holding gold, a non-interest-bearing asset.

Currently, the gold/silver ratio is at 59.43 points, near the middle of the consolidation range that has lasted for several months.

Despite market caution regarding silver, the BofA team believes the metal remains crucial to the solar energy industry and demand is unlikely to plummet suddenly, even if high prices limit consumption. The analysts also note that the ongoing conflict in Iran continues to drive demand for green energy and alternative energy sources to oil.

In the future, the silver market may continue to experience significant volatility due to limited liquidity in some segments. Silver prices surged to $120 per ounce earlier this year as investors and industrial businesses fiercely competed for increasingly scarce physical silver supplies.

Source: https://znews.vn/ca-map-ban-thao-gan-100-tan-bac-chi-trong-mot-tuan-post1655807.html