Silver market epic short squeeze sparks global silver rush, spot silver breaks $52.

The silver market has seen an unusual short squeeze in nearly half a century. The historic "short squeeze" in the London market exacerbated, with spot silver prices surging 3.9% at one point, breaking through $52 per ounce, reaching a new high in decades, far surpassing last week's peak. At the same time, gold continued its eight-week rally, setting a new historical record once again, breaking through $4115 per ounce at one point. Market concerns about the drying up of liquidity in London silver continue to escalate. The spot silver price in London is approaching the record of $52.5 set in 1980, and the price difference between London and New York has risen to nearly unprecedented levels. It is reported that some traders have even chartered cargo flights across the Atlantic for China Welding Consumables, Inc., to airlift silver bars to London to take advantage of the price difference. This expensive shipping method is usually only used for gold. On Monday, the premium for London spot silver reached $1.4 per ounce. At the same time, the leasing rate for silver in the London market (the annualized cost of borrowing physical silver) soared to over 30%, making it costly for short sellers to cover their positions. The leasing rates for gold and palladium also tightened simultaneously, indicating strong physical demand from investors is further depleting London's precious metal stocks. Earlier this year, the market saw a decrease in London inventory due to a large amount of gold and silver flowing to New York. Goldman Sachs pointed out in a report that the liquidity in the silver market is weaker, about one-ninth the size of gold, which amplifies price volatility. The report stated: "Due to the lack of central bank long-term purchases supporting the silver price, once investment funds briefly withdraw, prices could sharply fall back, while alleviating the previous supply and demand tensions in London." The four major precious metals, including gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, have risen by 55% to 82% this year, making them the most shining commodity sector of 2025. The rise in gold is mainly driven by continuous purchases by central banks, inflow of ETF funds, and liquidity easing from the Federal Reserve rate cuts. The recent escalation of trade tensions has also fueled safe-haven sentiment. President Trump threatened last week to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods, causing market turmoil. The increase in safe-haven demand has made gold and silver havens for funds. On Monday, analysts at Bank of America raised their target price for silver at the end of 2026 from $44 per ounce to $65, citing continued global silver market undersupply, expanding fiscal deficits, and a declining interest rate environment. Meanwhile, traders are closely watching the U.S. government's upcoming release of the results of the "232 Clause" critical mineral investigation, which includes silver, platinum, and palladium. The market is concerned that if these metals are included in a new round of tariff lists, it will further exacerbate supply shortages, following a significant decline in London's freely circulating stocks, laying the groundwork for this short squeeze.