Silver prices extended gains today, with the London spot price breaking through $51/oz and domestic silver ingot export margins widening further. The spot-futures price spread for the most-traded SHFE silver sh2512 contract narrowed slightly to 30-40 yuan/kg. After large-smelter silver ingots in Shanghai were quickly sold out with a premium of 6-8 yuan/kg against TD in the morning session, inventories at large smelters and national-standard ingot suppliers declined, leading to offers at a premium of 10-15 yuan/kg against TD, or a discount of 20-30 yuan/kg against the SHFE silver sh2512 contract. The undersupply situation in the Shenzhen market remained unimproved, with buyers actively inquiring but sellers having limited total volumes available. Due to export demand for large ingots from domestic smelters, spot circulating supplies were generally tight, prompting some downstream end-users to stockpile in advance to avoid potential supply disruptions from last-minute spot purchases.
