January 28, 2008 at 1:00 am by Tom Lydon
Silver has long been in the shadow of its golden counterpart, and focused exchange traded funds (ETFs) mirror that from 2006. Last year, gold finished up 28% while silver added 18%. That was after suffering a few volatile swings, though.
iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) has seen its rate of accumulation slow, but the addition of a silver ETF in the UK and Switzerland are turning the trend around, reports Jane Louis for Resource Investor. Demand for the commodity dipped somewhat with the advent of digital photography, as silver is a major component in developing film.
But there is still no shortage of other uses for the metal. Industrial applications are the main source of silver demand in the market, as it is a good thermal conductor, electrical conductor, batteries use it, along with water filtration systems.
Silver will be growing in popularity as new uses are being developed, such as a wood preservative. In addition to SLV, PowerShares DB Silver (DBS) tracks the metal.
Tags | Energy, Europe, EWL, Material ETFs, Metals, Silver, Switzerland, United Kingdom
