Industrial purchasing and low prices have helped silver regain some ground this week. In perfectly supply side economics, the answer to silver's low price was its low price as industrial consumers snapped up the metal when it was around $18 and ounce, driving up demand and price.
The striking platinum miners in South Africa have made a new offer to mining companies Lonmin (LONDON:LMI), Anglo American (JO:AMSJ) and Impala Platinum (JO:IMPJ). The offer is not currently being negotiated and the strike has entered its fifth month.
The week’s biggest mover on the weekly Global Precious Metals MMI® was the price of Japanese silver, which saw a 2.5 percent increase to JPY 627.00 ($6.11) per 10 grams. This comes on the heels of a 3.8 percent decline the week prior. The price of Chinese silver dropped 2.2 percent this week, closing out the third consecutive week of falling prices at CNY 4,070 ($651.88) per kilogram. The price of US silver rose 1.6 percent to $19.11 per ounce after falling 3.3 percent during the previous week. Closing out the third week of declining prices, the price of Indian silver dropped by 0.8 percent, finishing at INR 40,213 ($682.14) per kilogram.
The price of Indian gold bullion rose 1.3 percent to INR 25,854 ($438.57) per 10 grams after falling 4.9 percent during the previous week. The price of Japanese gold bullion rose 1.3 percent to JPY 4,132 ($40.26) per gram after falling 3.5 percent during the previous week. The price of US gold bullion rose 0.6 percent to $1,253 per ounce after falling 3.6 percent during the previous week. The price of Chinese gold bullion fell 0.4 percent over the past week to CNY 251.79 ($40.33) per gram. This was the third week in a row of declining prices.
The price of Japanese platinum bar rose 1.0 percent to JPY 4,788 ($46.65) per gram after falling 2.3 percent during the previous week. Chinese platinum bar fell 0.6 percent over the past week to CNY 310.00 ($49.65) per gram. The price of US platinum bar rose 0.6 percent to $1,441 per ounce after falling 2.9 percent during the previous week.
The price of Japanese palladium bar rose 1.1 percent over the past week to JPY 2,761 ($26.90) per gram. This was the third week in a row of increasing prices. US palladium bar prices ticked up 1.0 percent over the past week to $839.00 per ounce. Chinese palladium bar remained essentially flat from the previous week at CNY 189.00 ($30.27) per gram.
The Global Precious Metals MMI® collects and weights 14 global precious metal price points to provide a unique view into precious metal price trends.