Price of silver - How far will the market be able to stretch?

delphine · Apr 6, 2011

http://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html#ny

I am looking at the price of silver like most of you would… with a lot of anxiety. And an obvious question, how much more will the market and the industry be able to absorb higher silver prices as we have past $39 per ounce, we were at $19 in August last year.
The Telegraph is questioning whether a fall of silver prices is not coming up next.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...n-Is-the-silver-price-heading-for-a-fall.html ... other sources demonstrate that the commodity is still underpriced.

I can't help wondering, with a lot of anxiety, how much more capacity the photographic industry and its market have to absorb steeping silver prices?

When is Ilford increasing its prices next, will we still be able to afford it?

Best

Delphine

DWThomas · Apr 6, 2011

There was a discussion about this earlier, but I think the silver in a piece of film or paper represents only a very small fraction of the selling price. So yes, photo products will probably go up in price, but surely nowhere near the amount that silver has jumped.

Simon R Galley · Apr 6, 2011

Dear All,

The perception seems to be that the amount of silver in photo products is 'very' small ( pennies! ) as a percentage of the selling price, the amount of silver in each box of paper and roll of film ( especially monochrome paper and film ) as a percentage of the total raw material costs is now very,very high indeed, and needless to say more than twice the cost to us than it was a mere 7 months ago.

But DW Thomas is also correct in that the price of silver as a raw material, although double, will not double the retail cost or indeed anywhere like it.

Simon. ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

Jeff Kubach · Apr 6, 2011

At least that is good thing to hear.

Jeff

michaelbsc · Apr 6, 2011

As a guy with a lot of manufacturing background let me point out that silver is only involved in the film manufacturing. The cost to the consumer is more affected by energy prices.

Vaughn · Apr 6, 2011

Silver recovery companies who have been stockpiling silver while it was at $19 must be happy -- or nervous about if they should cash a bunch in now, or wait until it rises higher.

michaelbsc · Apr 6, 2011

They should probably take the profit relatively soon. (Woo-Hoo, now I'm an investment advisor too!)

Despite my ever present right wing slant on all things political, the simple truth is that things are either going to begin to retreat to previous levels or we're going to learn to life with a "new" normal.

If the survivalists turn out to be right and the whole world turns to violence lead is precious metal. Not silver or gold.

nickrapak · Apr 6, 2011

michaelbsc said:
If the survivalists turn out to be right and the whole world turns to violence lead is precious metal. Not silver or gold.

Actually, silver still would be, as a disinfectant.

Just sayin'

Photo Engineer · Apr 6, 2011

Labor prices affect manufacture as well as raw good stocks including oil which is the base for almost all organic chemicals used today.

As for lead, gold or silver, I would bet on depleted Uranium if we turn to violence.

PE

michaelbsc · Apr 6, 2011

Uranium, huh?

Well, we need to come up with something else. Of the four I don't have a stockpile of any.

Maybe I'll become chattel.

removed account4 · Apr 6, 2011

as i understand it, there is about 1/4 troy oz of silver in
a gallon of spent fixer ... it isn't a lot, but it adds up

Photo Engineer · Apr 6, 2011

Well, lets round things off a bit.

There are about 100 - 200 mg / ft square of silver in paper and about 300 mg / ft square of silver in film.

Go figure the capacity of your fixer and the amount of material put through it and you can guesstimate the amount of silver in exhausted fixer. Now, figure that the extraction process from the fixer is going to cost you, and then that the extraction and refinement of the silver from the material used to extract silver from the fixer (2 step process - yours and then the refiner). This reduces the value of silver by over 2/3 in some cases.

Now, you can figure what your silver is worth!

Ain't much, is it?

Sorry.

PE

patrickjames · Apr 7, 2011

At this point I am more concerned with the average persons ability to make a living that is appropriate with the massive attack on him from all angles recently than I am with how much I pay for film. From an historical perspective film is unbelievably cheap right now. Even if the price doubles, it will still be cheap.

sandermarijn · Apr 7, 2011

Photo Engineer said:
Now, you can figure what your silver is worth!
Ain't much, is it?

Probably not no, but still enough for Silverprint to jump in (pdf). Nice initiative.

I always feel a bit bad when I bring spent fixer to the local disposal station. They collect so little fixer these days that I wouldn't be surprised if my petty amounts go down the drain right there.

Tony Egan · Apr 7, 2011

All those Pt/Pd printers and gold toners out there are mocking you
http://www.kitco.com/market/

Dirb9 · Apr 7, 2011

Even ignoring inflation, silver prices now are cheaper than they were when the Hunt brothers drove up prices ($50/oz vs $39oz). Film manufacturers then responded by raising prices. They also kept them raised once the price of silver fell back down. I guess stocking up on film will be a good investment!

benjiboy · Apr 7, 2011

If I knew the answer to the O.Ps question I would be trading in futures on the stock market.

removed account4 · Apr 7, 2011

sandermarijn said:
Probably not no, but still enough for Silverprint to jump in (pdf). Nice initiative.

I always feel a bit bad when I bring spent fixer to the local disposal station. They collect so little fixer these days that I wouldn't be surprised if my petty amounts go down the drain right there.

chances are they put your fluids into a incinerator and burn it.

sandermarijn · Apr 7, 2011

jnanian said:
chances are they put your fluids into a incinerator and burn it.

What happens to silver in fixer when you burn it? Rain down in one's backyard?

This makes Silverprint's initiative seem all the nicer. Pity I don't live near London. AFAIK, we don't have anything like this near where I live (apart from the general disposal station).

Photo Engineer · Apr 7, 2011

When the Hunt brothers drove up the cost of silver, Kodak launched a 2 pronged effort to conserve silver by R&D. One method involved reducing the actual silver content by over 50% in color papers by means of a proprietary catalytic imaging process. The other involved leaving the silver in a donor sheet that could be returned to Kodak for silver reclamation. Both projects died after a few years, when silver prices went back down. The latter product was called Ektaflex "C" and Ektaflex "R" paper, and was terminated by the Polaroid lawsuit.

PE

removed account4 · Apr 7, 2011

i am not exactly sure what happens after it is incinerated.
there was a thread here a few years ago where this sort of thing was talked about.

c.d.ewen · Apr 7, 2011

michaelbsc said:
Maybe I'll become chattel.

The politicians will volunteer you as fodder.

Charley

Photo Engineer · Apr 7, 2011

Or maybe Soylent Green?

PE

bobwysiwyg · Apr 7, 2011

Photo Engineer said:
Or maybe Soylent Green?

PE

I think I would rather starve.

Alan Johnson · Apr 8, 2011

The Financial Times 8 April has a short article on a report on the silver market from precious metals consultancy GFMS for anyone interested.

Price of silver - How far will the market be able to stretch?

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency