.
Watch
.
Posted on 10/15/2025 7:18:00 AM PDT by delta7
China’s $128/oz Premium Sets Global Benchmark, Triggering a Worldwide Silver Supply Shock and Redefining Pricing Everywhere.
Raw silver is commanding $128 per ounce in China, the world’s largest physical silver marketplace—a price more than double prevailing global spot rates. In an interconnected world, silver always flows to the market that pays the most and treats it best. When benchmark prices surge so dramatically in one dominant region, those levels ripple outward, redefining what buyers everywhere must pay for the real metal.
As word spreads of China’s sky-high premiums, sellers and traders naturally align their offers to match, making $128 not just a local anomaly, but a practical new baseline. The days of regional price gaps are vanishing, replaced by a global standard set by those willing to pay.
Ultimately, silver goes where it is valued highest—and when one market leads, the rest follow. As news of China’s $128 per ounce silver price circulates, it quickly becomes the effective price for physical silver worldwide.
The silver shortage gripping global markets in late 2025 is not an abstract concept; it’s a rapidly unfolding crisis affecting wholesale, retail, and industrial supply chains in every major region. Silver is suddenly unavailable from trusted mints and dealers, cascading real-world consequences for manufacturers, investors, and everyday buyers. This systemic scarcity, driven by a confluence of supply chain breakdowns and surging demand—especially in Asia—has triggered new pricing benchmarks, stunned old-economy players, and left the world scrambling for solutions.
Perth Mint and India: Supply Vanishes
In Australia, the globally respected Perth Mint has halted all silver product sales, effectively erasing one of the planet’s most reliable sources of new supply. Not a single coin or bar now leaves their facility; the only response to inquiries is silence or “unavailable.” This sudden stop eradicates a crucial export pipeline, radiating downstream effects throughout Asia Pacific and beyond.
The situation in India is equally dramatic—retailers and dealers report not even “a sliver of silver available”. Amazon-based sellers are now defaulting on deliveries, advertising silver bars, accepting payment, and then failing to produce the metal. This breach of trust highlights the severity of the crunch: some dealers have run out of physical stock and cannot honor sales, leaving frustrated consumers without recourse. These abrupt defaults mark a transition from mere inconvenience to financial risk with reputational damage.
Physical Shortage Splits the Market
In London, physical silver shortage signals have become acute, sending lease rates spiraling to 39%—a panic level not seen in recent history. Banks unable to locate sufficient metal are forced to buy back futures contracts or deliver actual silver, moves that can spark explosive price surges overnight. The crisis has bifurcated the market: futures and paper contracts trade at one price, while the real metal commands far greater premiums, sometimes double the spot rate due to scarcity.
China Sets the New Global Price
Nowhere are these pressures more visible than China, the world’s largest physical silver marketplace. Silver sheets on top trading platforms like Rongtong Gold have disappeared, cutting off both bulk buyers and industrial demand. JD.com, the nation’s top e-commerce retailer, shows almost all merchants have delisted raw silver bars; only one remains, offering $108.25 per ounce for raw silver and $128.50 for small bars. These prices are more than 100% above official global spot, signaling not just local demand but a reset in global pricing logic.
Why does China’s price matter so much? Sellers always migrate to markets offering the highest returns and best conditions. With China consuming a vastly disproportionate share of global silver supplies, its domestic premiums exert gravitational pull—aligning international prices with Chinese benchmarks. If sellers can receive $108-$128 per ounce in China, the rest of the world quickly follows, making China’s retail prices the new “de facto” global standard for physical silver.
North America: Mints and Banks Run Dry
The supply pinch is intensifying in North America. The Royal Canadian Mint, revered for stability, reports zero inventory on its iconic 10-ounce and 100-ounce silver bars; buyers are met with “out of stock” notices or indefinite waitlists.
TD Bank, a giant in Canadian retail bullion, shows every single silver product marked “unavailable.” Even collectors seeking small, themed bars are left wanting. The tightness extends deep into the institutional segment—banks, mints, and retailers cannot replenish stock or assure customers of future deliveries.........
Yes. It was accurate this morning. I popped over spot late last week.
I have been doing business with them for a long time. I’ve bought and sold through them many times. They usually had a “Sell to Us” price that was about $30-$40 under spot. I was a little surprised when I saw it last week.
“As the Hunt brothers tried to explain to all who would listen, the world at that time was consuming considerably more silver than it was producing, yet the price of silver on the futures markets was running well below the marginal cost of production. Ergo: one could anticipate that prices would rise, eventually. They invested accordingly, going long and announcing their intention to take delivery of physical silver, obviously for resale to industrial users.”
Yes. They knew what they were doing. Lost hundreds of billion$ and went bankrupt!
TejasGaytor lies like a Democrat - he leaves out important facts to twist his messages into the shape he wants.
I talked to two dealers, in two different states. Refiners are halting the buying of .925. .770 ( Peace Dollars, Morgan’s) , junk ( .715) as the refiners are busy pouring 1,000 oz “ good delivery bars for the western Comex and LBMA.
There is panic they will default on physical deliveries. The two western exchanges “ trade “with each other, when Comex is low, LBMA ships them bars, vice versa...usually by sea freight, but now reports are indicating they are air freighting back and worth ( $$$) ....and also are draining the ETF SLV fund....
In any case, the “ details” only confirm what some of us already knew: there is a worldwide scramble for physical Silver. Don’t get caught holding paper Silver.
TejasGaytor lies like a Democrat - he leaves out important facts to twist his messages into the shape he wants.
“A of dealers are not buying junk silver coins,”
Coin shops need cash flow, junk and .925 Silverware is always the first sent out for cash.
Especially paper short contracts. I believe exchanges and ETF's have to settle in paper money if they default on delivery, but are exempt from further damages beyond that.
The Hunts got sndbagged by the Exchange and the feds/the Carter administration. Everything the Hunts had done was legal and disclosed. Then the Exchange, supported or prompted by the feds, changed the rules and ordered the Hunts to divest most of their holdings immediately, without providing any time to unwind a very large position. The Hunts had to dump it basically overnight, and they took a bath. Meanwhile, the short sellers who had the political moxie made billions. THAT’S the scandal.
The Hunts weren’t done in by the markets.
YEP
China’s biggest liability is trust. No one trusts them.
My grandfather made and then lost a pile of money by piggybacking on the Hunt Brothers. I inherited the last remnants of his hoard of junk silver and silver bullion, which I’ve been keeping for many years as insurance rather than an investment or speculation. But if I see it go above $100 an ounce I’m selling every single piece of it for a six figure payday. Maybe jump back in when it crashes back to 40 as it inevitably will.
I’m just sittin’ here, smiling like the Cat that ate the Canary. ;)
delta7 is the quintessential paid soviet troll here, and for the last few weeks he’s been on a kick posting BS stories about silver and gold ... prior to that he posted nothing but stories about how ukraine was getting their asses kicked ... apparently his paymasters have switched his gears for some reason ...
“The Hunts weren’t done in by the markets.”
ROTFLMAO! Did you major in writing fiction?
The Hunts were sabotaged by a change in the rules imposed without warning by the Exchange and the regulators. That’s not “markets.” That’s the manipulation of a market by outside actors.
My point is that in futures markets, every long position is offset by a short position. The “evil Texas oil operators” lost billions. Those billions went dollar for dollar to the opposite party in each trade.
The changes could have been announced prospectively, with the Hunts given some time to unwind their position. Instead, they were required to dump their contracts. Who benefitted?
I have also heard refiners are backed-up and don’t want to take in any more. So if a dealer is buying you will be selling at a discount to the market price. Dealer would have to hold or at least package for sale. It must be crazy out there!
🐈
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.