The Global Silver Shortage Has Arrived - and Dirt-Cheap Prices Are to Blame

Jon Little has recently acknowledged that his earlier concerns about outright silver scarcity may require refinement.

By some estimates, approximately 6.8 billion ounces of silver exist globally, enough to suggest that physical shortage is a "relative term."Moreover, the critical nuance lies in the market-clearing price: while there is silver "out there," it is disappearing when it was priced from $28.85 (January 2025) to today's $50 per ounce. When adjusting for decades of monetary inflation and shifts in real purchasing power, the true equilibrium price for silver may be well above $600 per ounce. At such levels, latent inventory could indeed come to market-potentially alleviating the shortage for a limited period of perhaps a year or two.

This distinction highlights that what is frequently perceived as a supply crisis is more precisely a misalignment between accessible supply and realistic pricing in today's financial context, underlining profound structural tension in the global silver market .Put simply, Jon Little states, "the paper-derivative attacks that crushed Silver's price are exactly what created today's shortage. If Silver had been given the respect it deserved over the past century, it wouldn't have been squandered in torpedoes, bombs, missiles, space stations, and mountains of discarded electronics rusting or smoldering in landfills across the developing world."

A global storm is erupting across the precious metals markets-an unprecedented convergence of events that sets off an unmissable alarm for investors, bankers, and industry alike. Never before have such dramatic inventory drains lined up with seismic policy shifts and surging demand, creating a scenario so explosive it demands all eyes. This isn't hype-these are the hard facts that simply can't be doubted .

Across continents, physical silver is evaporating at a historic pace. Canadian mega-retailers like Costco have been out of silver for weeks, and in Australia, even major bullion dealers have nothing left but empty shelves-kilo bars are history as soon as they arrive. In the U.S., the COMEX is seeing its registered silver hoard hemorrhage for the 17th straight day, with 2.5 million ounces gone in just the last 24 hours. London's LBMA, the world's institutional silver hub, is teetering on empty as deliveries get rationed and premiums explode. It's not just tight-it's a full-blown drought with no rainclouds in sight .

But the fuse is about to hit the dynamite in India. A new regulation-going live April 2026-will allow silver to be used as collateral for bank loans. That means a nation of 1.4 billion people, with more than 250 million loans already on the books, will see up to 10 kilograms of silver per family injected into the financial system and investment pool. This is not a tweak, it's a tidal wave: a cultural affinity for silver meets a banking pipeline, just as industrial demand breaks all records. The stage is set for demand the world has never witnessed .

Meanwhile, central banks are going on a physical gold buying spree-at a pace bordering on panic. The Gulf powerhouses-UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait-just secured $33.5 billion in fresh gold. South Korea, absent as a buyer for a decade, suddenly grabs $8 billion, with clear signals there's more to come. India is acting defensively, flying gold home in bulk, while the mood at the LBMA's Kyoto conference turned "firmly bullish." Dealers forecast gold shattering the $5,000 mark, with silver eyeing $60-each propelled not by speculation, but official sector action and relentless physical demand .

This is the era of no more excuses. For the first time, runaway industrial usage, central-bank accumulation, cultural hoarding, and an unprecedented regulatory green light are smashing into rapidly vanishing supplies. Anyone dismissing these conditions is whistling past a graveyard of empty vaults. It's a perfect storm: clear, hard-hitting, and open-and-shut-precious metals are facing a pressure cooker moment, and the world is out of release valves. The time for "nothing to see here" is over; history is being made, right now.