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Gold/Mining/Energy : Silver Super Bulls -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Silver Super Bull who wrote (607)	12/4/2005 10:44:23 AM
From: Land Shark	Respond to of 1281

Silver at 18-Year High on Industry, Jewelry Demand (Update3) Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Silver rose to an 18-year high in London amid growing demand from electronics makers and as rising gold prices prompt jewelry makers to seek cheaper alternatives. Global demand for silver was 26,023 tons last year, with 44 percent of that coming from industrial applications and the rest from photography and jewelry, according to London-based research group GFMS Ltd. Gold rose to a 22-year high of $506.78 an ounce in London today as investors bought bullion as a hedge against inflation and as an alternative to stocks, bonds and currencies. ``High gold prices have triggered some jewelers to switch to silver, which is a much cheaper alternative,'' James Moore, a Kettering, U.K.-based precious metals analyst with TheBullionDesk.com said in an interview today. ``There has also been an increase in industrial demand.'' Silver for immediate delivery rose as much as 11 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $8.62 an ounce in London, the highest since August 1987. It was trading at $8.55 as of 6:18 p.m. London time. The metal has gained 25 percent this year, after advancing almost 15 percent the year in 2004. Silver prices will rise in the next five years as demand in China expands faster than supply, fueling imports for jewelry, electronics and photography, GFMS said in September. Chinese silver demand will jump to about 2,870 metric tons by 2010, from 1,624 tons last year, according to Tim Spencer, a senior analyst with the London-based group. The increase would make China the third-biggest consumer of the metal, behind the U.S. and Japan, based on figures for 2004, when it ranked No. 5. Records China's $1.65 trillion economy, which expanded 9.4 percent in the third quarter, is already the world's biggest consumer of commodities such as steel, copper, tin and iron ore. Prices for most of those commodities have reached records this year as producers fail to expand production fast enough to keep pace with demand. Silver also gained as funds bought the metal ``as part of portfolio diversification,'' Frederic Panizzutti, senior vice president at MKS Finance, a Geneva-based precious-metals trading and refining company, said in an interview today. ``Like gold, silver is seen as an alternative investment.''