According to the latest report from the Silver Institute (SI), silver investment increased dramatically in the first half of 2025, propelled by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, pushing prices to their highest level in 13 years.
In the first six months of 2025, the silver price rose 25%, slightly less than gold’s 26% gain over the same period. The gold-silver ratio surged in April-May, leaving silver undervalued from a long-term perspective, while improving sentiment in the industrial metals sector following the start of China-US trade talks provided additional support.
The CEO and founder of Summa Silver Corp, Galen McNamara, presented updates on the company’s progress and developments at the 2025 GCFF Online Silver Investment Conference. Summa Silver is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company that holds a 100% interest in the Hughes Project located in central Nevada. Additionally, it has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Mogollon Project located in southwestern New Mexico. The Hughes Project hosts the historically high-grade Belmont Silver Mine.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, believes silver prices may maintain their strong trajectory, supported by expectations of a widening supply-demand deficit and a correction in the gold-silver ratio. Hansen noted that silver recently broke through the key resistance level of $35 per ounce. If this support level holds, silver could potentially climb further towards the $40 per ounce level within the next 6 to 12 months.
The Silver Institute report shows that global silver Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) saw net inflows of 95 million ounces in H1 2025, already surpassing the total inflows for the entire year of 2024, reflecting strengthening bullish expectations. Benefiting from firmer silver prices, the value of these holdings reached successive record highs in June, exceeding $40 billion for the first time. Sprott Asset Management USA announced on Wednesday that the Sprott Silver Miners & Physical Silver ETF (Nasdaq: SLVR), which debuted in January, has surpassed $100 million in Assets Under Management (AUM).
Futures markets also reflected the rising investment enthusiasm, with net managed money positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) growing substantially this year. As of June 24, the net long position had surged by 163% compared to end-2024 levels. Institutional investors have consistently utilized silver as a significant store of value throughout this year. The average net long position in the first half of 2025 reached its highest level since H1 2021.
Unlike gold, which is now dominated by central banks and sovereign institutions, silver remains primarily driven by investment flows. The potential amount of tradable silver inventory has likely been significantly depleted, meaning silver prices should exhibit greater sensitivity to incremental buying demand. As noted by the Silver Institute, silver inventories have been persistently drawn down since 2020. With less available tradable silver inventory, positioning has become a more critical price driver, and the potential for a silver squeeze is rising.
