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DescriptionSilver is a white colored shiny element that is highly ductile and malleable and isused in making jewelry, coins and tableware. It is also used in chemical experimentsas it provides a high electrical and thermal conductivity. It is found in the metallicstate and also in a large amount of minerals mainly in argentite. That is why it iscalled argentum in Latin.OverviewSilver is a metal that is associated with metals like gold, lead, zinc and copper,though it’s unusual properties makes it very different from them. It is used inmaking various kinds of jewelry, as it is considered as a precious metal second togold but its contribution in the various industrial sectors as a raw material makes itunmatchable. No other metal can replace silver as it has an endless number of uses. Silver is produced throughout the world but an interesting fact remains that theprimary source of silver is not the silver mines but the other sources of silver. Silvermines produce a small amount of silver that is 25% of the world’s total productionand the rest of it is derived as a by-product from gold mines (15%), copper mines(24%), lead and zinc mines (34%) and other sources. The total production of silverin the world figures to be around 615 million ounces and Mexico is the leading silverproducing country. The total demand of silver in the world amounts to be around 29thousand tons. About 95% of this demand is contributed largely by three industrialsectors namely photography, jewelry and silverware sectors. The idea of silver as aholding asset and as a source of coinage is losing popularity to the idea of silver asan industrial commodity. The demand of silver in 2002 from these sectors was: - Photography sector – 342 million ounces Jewelry sector – 205 million ounces
Silverware sector – 259 million ounces The countries that are the major consumers of silver are: - United statesCanadaMexicoUnited KingdomFranceGermanyItaly JapanIndiaHistorySilver is one of the oldest found metals on earth and it had been used in jewelry andutensils since 4th millennium B.C. Old books indicate that at that time it wasextracted from lead. First attempt to mine silver is said to be have been madearound 3000 BC in the areas of Anatolia. A process, ”culpellation” was found out inorder to extract silver from silver ores around 2500BC. This led to the discovery of more silver mines around the world. It was used as currency in many civilizations. Silver coin as a currency was firstintroduced in the eastern Mediterranean in 550 B.C. It started gaining popularity asa medium of exchange since then. The discovery of the American countries markedan important twist in the history of silver as the major silver mines in Mexico, Peruand Bolivia were found. There have been important technological improvements till now, which haveresulted in the increased production of silver and have made it an unmatchablecommodity.
Grading of SilverSilver that is found with some percentage of other elements in it is called impuresilver. That is why it is graded upon its fineness. According to the Indian standards,silver is graded into six categoriesGrade99999995999970925916Fineness999.9999.5999970925916 Silver producing countries Mexico (99 million ounces)Peru (98.4 million ounces)Australia (71.9 million ounces)China (63.8 million ounces)Poland (43.8 million ounces)Chile (42.8 million ounces)Canada (40.6 million ounces)United States (40.2 million ounces)Russia (37.9 million ounces)Kazakhstan (20.6 million ounces)Bolivia (13.1 million ounces)Sweden (9.4 million ounces)Indonesia (8.6 million ounces)Morocco (6.3 million ounces)Argentina (5 million ounces)
Turkey (3.7 million ounces)South Africa (3.2 million ounces)Iran (2.6 million ounces) Japan (2.4 million ounces)India (2.1 million ounces) The above-mentioned figures are the silver production figures of the countries in2004. Clearly, Mexico leads the list of silver producing countries. It contributes toabout 15% of the world’s total production. As already mentioned, only 25% of theworld’s total production (i.e. 615 million ounces) comes from the primary silvermines and the rest from other sources like refining of other metals and also fromscrap recycling. World silver survey done in 1998 depicts that around 152.2 millionounces of silver was separated from the waste for recycling purposes. Thispercentage of separated silver has improved due to advanced methods of separation. United States is the major silver producing country through scrap andwaste followed by Japan.Production of silver in India India hardly produces any silver and is basically a silver importing country. It holdsthe 20th place in the list of silver producing countries and the total production of silver in India in 2004 was around 2.1 million ounces. The three major silverproducing states in India are: -RajasthanGujarat JharkhandRajasthan is the leading silver producing state in India with a production of around32 thousand tons. Gujarat follows on the second place with a production of around20 thousand tons. Indian silver market
As mentioned above, India is primarily a silver importing country, as the productionof India is not sufficient to satisfy the ever-growing domestic demand. Theproduction of silver in India stands out at the figure of around 2.1 million ouncesplacing it at the 20th position in the list of major silver producing countries. Theimport of silver in India hovers over 110 million ounces that shows the huge size of Indian domestic demand. However, this import level fell sharply as a result of the decline in demand due torise in silver prices and inconsistent monsoon on which the income of the ruralsector depends. But, even this sharp decline could not affect India’s reputation of being one of the largest consumer countries of silver in the world. India stands thirdafter United States and Japan among the leading consumers of silver in the world. The countries from which India imports silver and maintain the flow of silver in themarket are: -ChinaUnited KingdomEuropean UnionAustraliaDubaiOver 50% share of import of silver in India is held by Chinese silver. The majorimporting center of silver in India was Mumbai but now it has been shifted toAhmedabad and Jaipur due to high sales tax and octroi charges.Market influencing factors Price movements of other metalsIncome level of the rural sector of the economyAvailable supply verses Fabrication demandFluctuation in deficits and interest ratesInflation