SILVER, PLATINUM RALLY FORCES BUYERS TO RETHINK 2026

Gold grabbed the headlines in 2025, but the bigger percentage shocks came from silver and platinum.

- BY NIVETHA DAYANAND

Both metals have surged more than 140 per cent year to date, forcing investors, jewellers, and industrial buyers to reprice what “expensive” looks like and to rethink what 2026 could bring if supply stays tight and trade tensions keep rewriting commodity flows.

Platinum has been the cleaner story in recent weeks. It hit a record above $2,300 an ounce, driven by a squeeze in available metal and a scramble to position for potential US trade restrictions. Silver has been the more volatile one, pushed higher by a mix of industrial demand and fast money that tends to amplify rallies, then punish hesitation.

What matters for consumers is not the headline record, but the knock-on effect. Platinum is used in jewellery and in automotive supply chains, so price spikes can filter into retail costs and industrial budgets. Silver sits at the intersection of investor demand and manufacturing demand, which means any 2026 slowdown risk could show up faster in prices than it would for gold.

Vijay Valecha, CIO at Century Financial, said silver's 2025 surge reflects both tightness and speculation, and the line between the two has blurred because the market has been pulling hard on physical supply.

"Silver is experiencing a combination of genuine tightness in supply and speculation," he said. "Firstly, we are now seeing a decline in COMEX inventories as investors are demanding physical Silver over cash settlement in the futures market. The fall in inventories of silver is faster than the fall in inventories of gold. As demand outstrips supply, prices have risen and as a result ETF flows have strengthened."