Going forward, however, industrial demand for silver is expected to recover due to several tailwinds. Firstly, the ongoing growth in the global solar PV industry is expected to continue, especially in China. This should continue to drive silver volume growth in the sector; more importantly, solar PV manufacturers are now hitting the limits of silver “thrifting,” i.e. it has been increasingly difficult for them to reduce the silver content in each solar cell. Secondly, demand for silver in the electronics sector—after having peaked in 2010 at 74.6 million ounces—is expected to recover.

As such, I expect global industrial demand for silver to rebound in 2017 and for it to embark on a structural uptrend over the next several years.