Something BIG Is About To Happen To Silver
As I mentioned in the article Why Is The U.S. Importing So Much Silver Bullion??, U.S. silver bullion imports surged 44% in the first months of 2015 compared to the same period last year. We can see this in the chart below:
During Jan-Feb 2015, the U.S. imported 838 metric tons (mt) of silver bullion versus 583 mt last year. Moreover, I mentioned that overall demand for silver in the first quarter of 2015 is either flat or down compared to last year. So, why would the U.S. silver market need additional silver bullion if demand is lower? Who is acquiring this silver… and why?
This brings me to the newest data put out by the CFTC. According to the most recent COT Report, the Commercials (big bullion banks) added a massive 18,595 new silver short contracts in just the last week. This is off the charts. If we look at the chart above, we can see just how big this single week increase compares to the changes over the past year.