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Silver heads for sixth straight annual deficit with drawdown raising squeeze risk
The silver market faces a sixth consecutive year of structural deficit, with 762M oz drawn from inventories since 2021, raising the risk of a renewed liquidity squeeze despite weaker demand expectations, the Silver Institute and consultancy Metals Focus said Wednesday. The global silver market deficit is expected to widen to 46.3M oz in 2026 from 40.3M oz in 2025, even as total demand falls 2% due to weaker industrial and jewelry consumption, partly offset by stronger coin and bar demand, the research showed. Liquidity has improved since last October's squeeze, as metal flowed back from the U.S., silver-backed ... (full story)