Silver and precious metal news that dominated 2020

Another year is almost over, but so much has happened already. 2020 was a volatile year for investors who had to stay on their toes to keep track with the roller coaster of rising and galling precious metal prices. Thankfully, 2020 has long passed and soon it will be a distant memory. There were so many stories that turned heads in 2020. Looking at the precious metal’s market, there are some distinctive news and reports on silver that grabbed a lot of attention.

Record-breaking gold prices

The gold price reached unprecedented highs as COVID raged and uncertainty kept most people in limbo. The price went as high as $2,070 an ounce overtaking the $1,921 record set in 2011. This impacted the price of silver. Dealers were reporting shortages of gold and silver bullion and trying hard to drum up business on the reselling did by urging those who had any silver or gold to sell. The factors that pushed prices up may have abated but the uncertainty is still there which is why a lot of analysts aren’t predicting major changes in the next 12 months. However, if you would like to sell bullion, you will need to follow the market and sell when you need to.

Silver’s rise and fall

The gold price wasn’t the only rising precious metal. The price of silver also went up to $28 an ounce, a price it had not been able to reach in seven years. However, before anyone with silver could celebrate, silver fell back to $23.88. The silver market is notorious for its volatility so this was to be expected but it soon made up and rose to $26.00. The new U.S President has brought some fresh air into the White house and the positive sentiments that came at the departure of former president Biden, who has big plans to improve the economy and push green energy like solar power which depends on silver, makes silver that more valuable.

Wild discoveries

Whilst people across the globe were making wild gold discoveries with nothing more than just metal detectors, the mining industry was contemplating the issues of reaching peak gold. Silver mining fell by 2.4% in 2020. This was mainly due to the halt in mine production because of lockdown rules. Mexico, the biggest producer of silver recorded a low mining output and so did major markets like China. For most countries there restrictions were largely relaxed around June. However, the mines were still not operating at full capacity.

Impact on supply and Demand

Reduced mining output and lockdown restriction created a strong demand for silver which could not be met. These restrictions disrupted supply chain deliveries.

Scientific headline of the year

We learned that the cellphones we throw away could be recycled instead of throwing them away. The medals created for Olympic games in Japan were a great example of how recyclable materials can be reused. All the medals that were issued were made with metals reclaimed from cellphones that were dumped.

The future is still uncertain. No one really has a crystal ball that shows where the price of silver is headed. If you have silver you would want to sell, speak to an experienced precious metal dealer. Not only can you sell bullion at such dealers but you can get all the insight and knowledge you might need about this industry.