Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
Eric Sepanek is the founder of Scottsdale Bullion & Coin, established in 2011. With extensive experience in the precious metals industry, he is dedicated to educating Americans on the wealth preservation power of gold and silver.
Silver is estimated to reach $45/oz by the next LBMA survey in 2025, according to a panel of precious metals experts. An annual survey hosted by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) — a leading name in the market — reveals robust bullish optimism among experts. This high-end estimate would represent more than a 60% climb from 2024 averages, giving investors some serious growth potential.
What’s this survey all about?
Every year, the LBMA conducts a survey with leading analysts to feel the pulse of the precious metals space. Self-dubbed “the most prestigious survey in the precious metals calendar,” it includes price forecasts for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium as well as market analysis. Each year at the close of the survey the experts are asked where they think prices will be at the following year’s survey. In the past few years, these predictions have been impressively accurate, especially for silver.
Silver’s Rise Takes Center Stage
This bullish prediction would follow silver’s already impressive rally. The shiny metal kicked off the year at $23.83 before exploding to a 12-year high of $34.86. With a 46% yield thus far in 2024, silver had been one of the highest-performing assets, outpacing gold and the broader stock market.
The Main Catalysts
The LBMA survey also asked analysts about the main reasons behind silver’s anticipated growth. By far, the three main drivers were:
US Monetary Policy (25%) — The Federal Reserve has backed itself into a corner with its radially liberal spending and printing policy. The country is staring down a $36 trillion national debt problem which is spurring investors to ditch the dollar in droves in favor of physical precious metals including silver. As the growing debt burden weighs on the economy, experts expect this migration to continue, providing strong support for silver prices.
Central Bank Activity (22%) — Governments across the world have seriously increased their precious metals reserves amid growing global economic volatility. The record-setting central bank gold demand has given rise to increased silver purchasing too. Russia recently announced plans to make physical silver a key part of its growing reserves. This increased demand from central banks is expected to provide further tailwinds, sending silver prices upward.
Geopolitical Risks (22%) — US allies are embroiled in hot wars on two different continents. At the same time, China increasingly flexes its dominance over Taiwan in the South China Sea. These rapidly rising geopolitical tensions directly threaten economic activity, especially global trade and fiat currency stability. The response has been a flood into more stable assets such as precious metals which are seeing a rising tide of price action from the increased demand.
Other indicators suggesting robust silver momentum cited by analytics, in order of perceived impact, include:
- Interest rate cuts
- Risks of recession
- Political instability
- Exchange-traded fund (ETF) activity
- Job market weakness
- Small and medium-sized bank risks
- Souring US-China relations
The Dollar’s Long Shadow
The dollar’s weakness is the long shadow casting uncertainty over all the factors fueling silver’s expected upward movement. As investors see dollar-linked assets becoming riskier and less attractive to hold, safe-haven demand experiences a boost. This has been the overarching story for the global economy as central banks, financial institutions, and, more recently, retail investors increase their exposure to precious metals as insurance against declining dollar strength and market stability.