Silver Prices in 2011 Plunge 9.8% in New York and 8% in London

New York silver rallied Friday but the gain was too little, too late. Silver prices plunged for the week, month, quarter and year.

On Friday, March silver futures settled up 60 cents, or 2.2%, to settle at $27.915 an ounce on the Comex in New York — its best closing price this week. It reached a high earlier in the day of $28.460 an ounce.

But in unmatched precious metals volatility, silver prices spiraled $3.02, or 9.8%, lower in 2011 after soaring 83.7% during the previous year with its 2010 settlement price of $30.937 an ounce.

"Silver, like gold, has beaten all retail investment funds here in London hands down since the crisis broke in 2007," MarketWatch quoted Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault. "But it’s so volatile, it’s struggling to capture people’s attention as a store of value."

Indian and Chinese silver demand is growing, "but the industrial outlook threatens to weaken further, because high prices are forcing substitution and better efficiency," especially in the solar market, he said.

Silver prices fell 4.0%, 14.9% and 7.2% for the week, month and quarter. The quarterly loss was the white metal’s third in a row for 2011, with the surging 22.5% increase in the first quarter the exception.

In other New York precious metals futures for the year, platinum declined 21% and palladium fell 18.3%. Gold was the single precious metal to register an increase in 2011, up 10.2%.

The London silver Fix price ended 2011 at $28.180 an ounce on Friday — also its best showing of the week thanks to a daily increase of $2.02. Its annual level was down $2.45, or 8%. The following table shows how London silver has performed through the last 11 years.

 

 

In London annual results for bullion, gold gained 11.7% while platinum fell 20.2% and palladium declined 19.6%.