Record demand for silver in 2015
According to The Silver Institute, the silver market posted record demand in 2015, driven by new highs from demand of jewelry, coins and bars. Last year also saw the third consecutive annual silver market deficit of 129.8 million ounces, reflecting the continued strength in silver demand.
The data from The Silver Institute reveals a couple important trends that wealth builders should take note. Firstly, unlike gold, silver has very wide industrial applications. Thus, the majority of silver demand come from industrial fabrications for electronic devices, photography, solar and brazing alloys. In 2015, due to the weak global demand, the overall industrial demand declined from 611.2 million ounces in 2014 to 588.7 million ounces last year.
Interestingly, the data on investment demand for silver bars and coins reflected a contrasting picture in 2015. Silver coin and bar investment surged 24% to reach a feverish high of 292.3 million ounces as investors took the opportunity to buy silver on the cheap in the midst of market correction. This was the highest demand on record and overtook the previous high in 2013. The explosive demand from investors was a result of lower average annual silver price of USD15.68 per ounce. The low price of silver in 2015 was due to the slowdown of China and strengthening of US dollars.
Since the start of 2016, silver has bounced from a low of USD13.80 per ounce to the current USD16.00 per ounce. Based on the price trend, silver seems to be at an inflection point of moving up. Wealth builders should seize the opportunity and consider diversifying some funds into silver bullion. After all, to make money from investments, you should always adopt a contrarian approach and buy when prices are low. This is the same for precious metals too.
The best country to buy silver is Singapore because investment grade silver bars and silver coins are exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). There are also no income tax or capital gain tax for physical silver in Singapore.
In Singapore, you can buy silver bullion from BullionStar, one of the largest precious metal dealers with a store-front shop at 45 New Bridge Road. With BullionStar, you can choose to buy silver bullion online and have them delivered to your home or put them into ‘My Vault’ storage in BullionStar’s secure vault storage facility. Alternatively, you can choose to walk in and buy gold and other precious metals at BullionStar shop and showroom premises.
Setting up an online account is pretty simple and you can choose to pay in different currencies, including Singapore dollar and Bitcoins. In addition, the price is very transparency as BullionStar’s website displays the price premium and spread for each bullion. This allows buyers to make price comparisons online before making the purchase.
BullionStar also offers customers their own silver bars with zero spread. They have commissioned world-renowned LBMA-approved refiner to produce these stylish and unique minted silver bars.
In addition, I like the Heraeus Silver Bar of 31.741kg that BullionStar is selling at a premium of only 4.15%, one of the lowest in the market. Just imagine this, if silver increased by one US dollar, you would make a cool USD1020! This represents a 6% yield for an investment of USD17,079.
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Magically yours,
SG Wealth Builder
