Third Times a Charm?

So it finally happened….

Silver crossed the $40/oz threshold for only the third time in more than a hundred years.

So what?

Well, so a lot!

First, it demonstrates that the long held triad of Silver uses… jewelry, investing, and silverware, have to make room for a fourth significant segment.  Precious metals have long played a role in the global financial, political, and business  systems. Today, it is also part of the industrial/commercial electronics manufacturing playing a key role as a conductive ink in making high performance solar panels.

Second, investing in precious metals is a highly complex and risky endeavor, with significant technical and fundamental analysis applied to forecasting availability. Breaking through the $40/oz “ceiling” makes those endeavors even more challenging given the volatility of silver. Often when a “ceiling” is overcome, the precious metal pricing increases significantly and quickly.

Third, the forces behind the rise in pricing have not been present in previous occurrences. Today, electronics and photovoltaics (solar) manufacturing accounts for 57% of the use of silver globally. At the same time, the availability of silver has fallen to the point where we are facing the 5^th year in a row of a structural deficit in silver production. Global reserves have to be tapped into to meet global demand. These reserves are not endless, and new mining opportunities are rare.

Finally, from Copprium’s perspective, crossing the $40/oz barrier is a signal to customers to consider other materials, such as copper, for their conductive ink applications. New copper ink developments, like those from Copprium , have reduced the stability/oxidation issues of copper conductive inks while providing nearly the same conductivity as silver. More importantly, copper is highly abundant, including domestically, and the pricing is a whole order of magnitude lower than silver.

So is the third time a charm or a headache? Advancements in nano and molecular technology are unleashing copper's capabilities to drive the additive printed electronics market long after silver reserves have been depleted. Copprium is helping bring that forecast to fruition.