by Chen Lin, Silver Seek:
2023 saw another year of the huge supply-demand deficit in silver, despite heavy investment selling. The most significant demand increase came from solar panels. In 2021, the Silver Institute and Metal Focus group were looking at PV (solar panel) using 110 million oz, growing at 12-13% per year. But in November 2023, the Silver Institute and Metal Focus group revised the 2023 estimate to about 200 million oz! In other words, in the past two years, over 100 million oz of silver was taken by the PV industry “unexpectedly”!