Silver hits fresh record on London squeeze and safe-haven demand

Silver surged to fresh record highs in mid October, briefly topping levels not seen since 1980 as a squeeze in London and a global rush for safe havens pushed prices sharply higher. The metal climbed past 52 per troy ounce on October 13 and, in volatile intraday trading across different venues, registered peaks above 53 and briefly exceeded 54 as traders scrambled for immediate delivery.

Traders and analysts said the rally was driven by a combination of a short squeeze in London, a tight physical market, and broader economic and geopolitical worries that have encouraged flows into precious metals. A shortage of available metal in London vaults, coupled with a surge of buying from exchange traded funds and other investors, widened price spreads between the London and New York markets and pushed premiums on physical silver higher. Over the past week, market participants recorded large withdrawals from COMEX-linked warehouses and significant ETF inflows, moves that further drained available stocks.

The market structure problem manifested in backwardation, where near‑term futures traded below spot prices, a sign that buyers were paying more for immediate delivery than for later...