Silver may benefit from upturn in industrial cycle
ETF Securities Commodity Research: Silvermay benefit from upturn in industrial cycle
Highlights
Silver has underperformed in 2017 with weak investor demand. Gold has been the choice metal for defensive plays, while a rally in equities has overshadowed silver’s cyclical qualities.
In 2018, we expect silver to play catch-up, while gold remains broadly flat.
Continued strength in the industrial cycle and a constrained mine supply would keep the metal in a supply deficit.
We expect silver’s fair-value at end-2018 to be US$18.5 to 19.5/oz.
In our gold outlook published in December 2017, we wrote about why we think gold will remain flat in 2018. While there could be upside surprises for inflation (gold price positive), rising interest rates and an appreciating US dollar (both gold price negative) would leave gold prices broadly flat. Silver, on the other hand may rise as industrial demand continues to increase and silver plays catch-up with gold after a year of under-performance.
Silver tied to gold?
Our silver modeli ties the performance of silver to gold. Over the past five years, monthly silver returns have had an 83% correlation with monthly gold returns. However in 2017, silver severely underperformed gold. Gold rose 10% in 2017, while silver ended the year almost exactly where it started. Gold seemed to have benefited more than silver from periodic bouts of rising geopolitical risk. A continued rally in cyclical assets such as equities diverted investor attention away from silver. Silver exchange traded products saw only 6.2 million troy ounces of inflows in 2017. That is less than a seventh of the inflows seen in 2016. By end of December 2017, net speculative longs in silver futures fell to 3545 contracts, the lowest since October 2014. It appears that silver did not benefit from its correlation with gold nor could it leverage off its cyclical status.
The gold to silver price ratio remains elevated.
Even though gold prices will likely be flat in 2018, we think that silver has some catching up to do.
Industrial cycle
Our silver model includes a proxy for industrial demand for silver. With more than 50% of silver being used in industrial applications, silver shares many traits of industrial metals, while gold operates more like a monetary asset.
Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Indices (PMIs) have been rising over the past year. Developed markets are growing at a faster rate than developing markets. We expect some further gains in global PMIs as developing countries gather momentum, with beneficial spill-overs from developed nations. We think the PMI index will rise to 55.0 to 55.5 at the end of 2018 from 54.5 in December 2017.
Mining capex continues to remain subdued
Our model includes a proxy for supply constraints from mines. We take an 18-month lag on capital expenditure (capex) on mines. Given that only 25% of silver is mined directly, while the remaining 75% comes as a by-product from mining for other metals, we look at mining across the sector rather than dedicated silver mines.
The current downturn in mining capex is the deepest since our data begun in 1997. Although the pace of capex decline has eased in the second half of 2017, the length of the decline has been the longest in our dataset.
This deep decline in mining investment is likely to keep silver in a supply deficit. According to GFMS/The Silver Institute data the silver market has been in a supply deficit since 2013. Although their data does not include 2017 figures yet, lower mining volumes and higher industrial demand is likely to have kept the market in deficit despite lower investment demand.
Exchange inventory likely to decline
COMEX exchange inventories have risen substantially in 2017. Taken at face-value this could indicate greater metal availability. However, most of the gains have come from eligible rather than registered inventories. Eligible inventory simply means the silver is held in COMEX’s approved warehouses but a warrant has not been issued against it. So it is not being held by the owner to settle futures transactions (at least until it is converted into registered). The rise in eligible inventory could be a consequence of the owner choosing to use COMEX warehouses to park their silver (i.e. owner may want to hold onto the silver rather use it for futures market transactions and so it is not available to the market). We expect a decline in total inventory, back to levels seen at the beginning of 2017, as investor demand encourages owners of this metal to sell.
This communication has been issued and approved for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”).
The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value.
This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
Telephone calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes
Commodity Research Gold outlook 2017 further upside likely
Highlights
While the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will increase rates this year, inflation will remain stubbornly high, maintaining a low real rate environment. Gold could rise to $1300/oz (8%) in the first half of the year, aided by a weaker US Dollar (USD). However, USD strengthening in the second half of the year and subdued enthusiasm for the metal in the futures market could drive a sell-off, with gold ending the year at US$1230/oz.
While the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will increase rates this year, inflation will remain stubbornly high, maintaining a low real rate environment. Gold prices could rise 8% in the first half of the year, aided by a weaker US Dollar (USD). However, USD strengthening in the second half of the year and subdued enthusiasm for the metal in the futures market could drive a sell-off, with gold ending the year at US$1230/oz, just 2.5% higher than today.
In a bullish scenario for gold, the Fed will be slow to act and inflation will be markedly above market expectations, while the USD weakens. Gold would end the year at US$1380/oz (15%). In a bearish scenario for gold, the Fed will move more aggressively, seeing the USD appreciate and burst the bond market bubble. Gold would end the year at US$1095/oz (-9%).
2017 gold price forecast
Goldhas had a strong start to the year with the metal having risen 3.6% so far. We expect gold to end the year at US$1230/oz, up from US$1185/oz (2.5%). However, gold could peak at a higher level, at around US$1300/oz mid-year (+8%). Our projections on gold are based on the model we presented in “Policy mistakes provide upside potential for gold”. We also present a more bullish and bearish scenario in addition to our base case.
(Click to enlarge)
Inflation to surprise on the upside
US inflation is rising rapidly. Higher energy prices today compared with a year ago will likely see inflation rise substantially above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. Aside from the volatile energy component, core prices are likely to rise as the US labour market shows signs of tightness. The unemployment rate at 4.7% is close to the ‘natural rate’, indicating that any further improvement will be highly inflationary. We believe that headline inflation will reach 2.9% in the first half of the year as a result of higher energy prices compared to a year ago, but even as the base effect fades, inflation will remain elevated at 2.7% in the second half. Inflation will rise despite the Fed delivering on all three rate hikes implied in its ‘dot plots’. Inflation will be substantially higher than the Fed’s projection of 1.9% and the consensus view of 2.5%.
(Click to enlarge)
Dollar appreciation to follow depreciation
As discussed in “Near-term downside for US Dollar”, we expect the USD to depreciate in the near-term after the currency has risen too far, too fast. The risk of the Fed’s actions not living up to its rhetoric is likely to place downward pressure on the currency. USD could fall as much as 2% from today’s levels in the first half of the year. As the Fed comes to terms with having to be more active with monetary policy in mid-2017, we feel that the USD could stage a rebound. The USD is likely to end the year 3% higher than today.
Nominal bond yields rise
Nominal bond yields are expected to rise as the Fed raises policy interest rates. We expect the Fed to deliver all three of the rate hikes indicated in its ‘dot plot’. Although policy rates will increase by 0.75%, we believe that nominal US 10-year bond yields will increase by 0.5% by year-end (from 2.5% to 3.0%) as we typically see the yield curve flatten in rate rising environments.
(Click to enlarge)
With inflation remaining elevated, despite the increase in nominal yields, real yields will be low and could even decline from just under 0.5% currently. Given gold’s historic negative relationship with real rates, a rising nominal rate environment is still consistent with rising gold prices.
(Click to enlarge)
Positioning less sensitive to shocks
Market sentiment toward gold has become subdued. Speculative positioning in gold futures has fallen drastically from last year. In July 2016 speculative positioning in gold futures reached an all-time high of 347,445 net long contracts as the shock result of Brexit led market participants toward the haven asset. But other shocks failed to muster as much enthusiasm for the metal. The surprise win for President Trump or the rejection of constitutional reform in Italy for example had little lasting support for the metal in terms of price or positioning. Speculative positioning fell below 100,000 contracts by the end of the year. It appears that the market has become desensitised by shock events. We think there could be a small uptick in positioning due to the French Dutch and German elections this year, but not to the levels we saw last year. There is also the risk that market uncertainty around Trump’s policies drives more investment in gold futures. We expect positioning to rise to 120,000 (which is markedly lower than the average of 220,000 last year).
(Click to enlarge)
Bull case
In a scenario where the Fed only increases rates twice this year while inflation rises to 3.2%, the USD could lose further ground, depreciating by 1%. More marked curve flattening could see nominal rates only rise to 2.7%. If markets become more responsive to shocks, speculative positions could move higher to 200,000 (close to the average positioning for last year). Under this scenario gold could rise to US$1380/oz by year end.
Bear case
In a scenario where the Fed tries to get ahead of the curve and reduce the risk higher inflation becoming entrenched into expectations, the central bank could raise rates four times this year. Most of the impact on inflation will only be felt in 2018, with inflation at the end of 2017 still around 2.4%. However, the USD may appreciate 5% while bond yields rise to 3.3%, a scenario consistent with the end of the bond market bubble. With markets more focused on a tightening monetary environment rather than political stress points, speculative positioning in gold could fall to 40,000 (significantly below the long term average of 88,000 net long contracts). Our model indicates that gold would fall to US$1095/oz in such a scenario by year end.
For more information contact:
ETF Securities Research team
ETF Securities (UK) Limited
T +44 (0) 207 448 4336
E info@etfsecurities.com
Important Information
The analyses in the above tables are purely for information purposes. They do not reflect the performance of any ETF Securities’ products . The futures and roll returns are not necessarily investable.
General
This communication has been provided by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”).
This communication is only targeted at qualified or professional investors.
The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value.
This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective, officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
Investors take profit on crude oil after a sharp OPEC-led rally. OPEC members reached an agreement on Wednesday to limit oil output. If implemented, it will be the first time in two years that the cartel will have a quota. Oil markets cheered the news with over a 6% price rally. However, many investors used the opportunity to take profit with a US$23.6 of outflows from long oil ETPs for the week. Capping OPEC production at 33 million barrels alone will do little to achieve market balance. We continue to believe that the bulk of the heavy lifting to achieve global market balance will be made by non-OPEC countries cutting supply.
Financial market jitters support demand for defensive assets once again. Concerns around the health and future of Deutsche Bank sparked a broader sell-off in cyclical financial assets in the latter half of the week. That continued to support the demand for defensive assets such as gold and silver via ETPs. Long gold ETPs saw US$111.3mn of inflows, marking the ninth week of inflows in the past ten weeks. Long silver ETPs saw US$30.1mn of inflows, the highest in since the post-Brexit rally in July.
Platinum ETPs receive second consecutive week of inflows. Investors fear that supply of platinum could be compromised by prolonged wage negotiations that could turn ugly as they did in 2014. Last week members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) went on strike in South Africa. About 500 of the 900 workers at Impala Platinum’s mines belong to the union. However, the company stated that 85% of staff reported for duty and operations were normal. In 2014 a standoff between unions and platinum mines lasting five months led to an estimated 1.2 million ounces of lost production (about a third of global output). While we are far from such level of acrimony this time, wage negotiations have been on-going since the beginning of the summer and still have not been resolved. We saw US$5.9mn of inflows into platinum ETPs last week.
Euro favoured over Sterling again. We saw US$10.1mn of inflows into long EUR, short GBP ETPs last week, reversing outflows of a similar magnitude from the previous week.
Short NOK bets are off. Following a 0.8% depreciation in NOK, investors sold their short NOK trade placed in the prior week, seeing outflows of US6.1mn. The rebound in oil prices this week could lend support to the Norwegian currency.
Key events to watch this week. A raft of PMI numbers from Europe to China to US will provide a gauge for the strength of the recovery. Investors will be focused on the US payrolls data. Consensus is for 173K additions. Anything less could drive the US Dollar lower and gold higher as bets for a December rate hike (which are finely balanced at the moment according to the futures market), could edge lower.
Video Presentation
Nitesh Shah, Director, Commodity Research at ETF Securities provides an analysis of last week’s performance, flow and trading activity in commodity exchange traded products and a look at the week ahead.
For more information contact
ETF Securities Research team
ETF Securities (UK) Limited
T +44 (0) 207 448 4336
E info@etfsecurities.com
Important Information
General
Important Information
General
This communication has been provided by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (”ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the ”FCA”).
This communication is only targeted at qualified or professional investors.
The products discussed in this communication are issued by ETFS Commodity Securities Limited (”CSL”), ETFS Hedged Commodity Securities Limited (”HCSL”), ETFS Hedged Metal Securities Limited (”HMSL”), Swiss Commodity Securities Limited (”SCSL”), ETFS Foreign Exchange Limited (”FXL”), ETFS Metal Securities Limited (”MSL”), ETFS Oil Securities Limited (”OSL”), ETFS Equity Securities Limited (”ESL”), Gold Bullion Securities Limited (”GBS” and, together with CSL, HCSL, HMSL, SCSL, FXL, MSL, OSL and ESL, the ”Issuers”) and GO UCITS ETF Solutions Plc (the ”Company ”). Each Issuer (apart from SCSL) is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. The Company is an open-ended investment company with variable capital having segregated liability between its sub-funds (each a ”Fund”) and is organised under the laws of Ireland. The Company is regulated, and has been authorised as a UCITS by the Central Bank of Ireland (the ”Financial Regulator”) pursuant to the European Communities (Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations, 2003 (as amended).
Italy: When being made within Italy, this communication is for the exclusive use of the ”qualified investors” and its circulation among the public is prohibited.
Switzerland: In Switzerland, this communication is only intended for Regulated Qualified Investors.
US: This communication is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares in the United States or any province or territory thereof, where none of the Issuers, the Company or any securities issued by them are authorised or registered for distribution and where no prospectus for any of the Issuers or the Company has been filed with any securities commission or regulatory authority. Neither this communication nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States. Neither the Issuers, the Company nor any securities issued by them have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 or the Investment Company Act of 1940 or qualified under any applicable state securities statutes.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or correctness of any information contained herein and any opinions related to product or market activity may change. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data.
Any historical performance included in this communication may be based on back testing. Back tested performance is purely hypothetical and is provided in this communication solely for informational purposes. Back tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance. Historical performance is not an indication of or a guide to future performance.
The information contained in this communication is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities nor shall any securities be offered or sold to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchaser or sale would be unlawful under the securities law of such jurisdiction. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
Risk Warnings
Securities issued by the Issuers and the Company may be structured products involving a significant degree of risk and may not be suitable for all types of investor. This communication is aimed at sophisticated, professional and institutional investors. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the prospectus (and any supplements thereto) of the relevant Issuer or the Company which includes, inter alia, information on certain risks associated with an investment. The price of any securities may go up or down and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Securities may be priced in US Dollars, Euros, or Sterling, and the value of the investment in other currencies will be affected by exchange rate movements. Investments in the securities of the Issuers or the shares of the Company which provide a short and/or leveraged exposure are only suitable for sophisticated, professional and institutional investors who understand leveraged and compounded daily returns and are willing to magnify potential losses by comparison to investments which do not incorporate these strategies. Over periods of greater than one day, investments with a short and/or leveraged exposure do not necessarily provide investors with a return equivalent to a return from the unleveraged long or unleveraged short investments multiplied by the relevant leverage factor.
Investors should refer to the section entitled ”Risk Factors” in the relevant prospectus for further details of these and other risks associated with an investment in the securities offered by the Issuers and the Company.
The relevant prospectus for each Issuer and the Company may be obtained from www.etfsecurities.com. Please contact ETFS UK at +44 20 7448 4330 or info@etfsecurities.com for more information.
Issuers
General: The FCA has delivered to the regulators listed below certificates of approval attesting that the prospectuses of the Issuers indicated have been drawn up in accordance with Directive 2003/71/EC.
For Dutch, French, German and Italian Investors: The prospectuses (and any supplements thereto) for each of the Issuers (apart from SCSL) have been passported from the United Kingdom into France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands and have been filed with the l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) in France, Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) in Germany, CONSOB and the Bank of Italy in Italy and the Authority Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten) in the Netherlands. Copies of prospectuses (and any supplements thereto) and related regulatory documentation, including annual reports, can be obtained in France from HSBC France, 103, Avenue des Champs Elysées, 75008 Paris, in Germany from HSBC Trinkhaus & Burkhardt, AG, Konsortialgeschäft, Königsalle 21/23, 40212 Dusseldorf and in the Netherlands from Fortis Bank (Nederland) N.V., Rokin 55, 1012 KK Amsterdam. The prospectuses (and any supplements thereto) for each of the Issuers (apart from SCSL) may be distributed to investors in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
This communication is not a financial analysis pursuant to Section 34b of the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz – WpHG) and consequently does not meet all legal requirements to warrant the objectivity of a financial analysis and is also not subject to the ban on trading prior to the publication of a financial analysis.
This communication is not addressed to or intended directly or indirectly, to (a) any persons who do not qualify as qualified investors (gekwalificeerde beleggers) within the meaning of section 1:1 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act as amended from time to time; and/or (b) in circumstances where other exemptions or dispensations from the prohibition the Dutch Financial Supervision Act or the Exemption Regulation of the Act on Financial Supervision apply.
None of the Issuers is required to have a license pursuant to the Dutch Financial Supervision Act as it is exempt from any licensing requirements and is not regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and consequently no prudential and conduct of business supervision will be exercised.
For Austrian, Danish, Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish Investors: The prospectuses (and any supplements thereto) for each of CSL, HCSL, HMSL, MSL, ESL and FXL have been passported from the United Kingdom into Austria, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and have been filed with Österreichische Finanzmarktaufsicht (Austrian Financial Market Authority) in Austria, Finanstilsynet (Financial Supervisory Authority) in Denmark, Finanssivalvonta (Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority) in Finland, Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (Portuguese Securities Market Commission) in Portugal, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (Securities Market Commission) in Spain and the Finansinspektionen (Financial Supervisory Authority) in Sweden. The prospectuses (and any supplements thereto) for these entities may be distributed to investors in Austria, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Denmark and Sweden.
For Belgian Investors: The prospectuses (and any supplements thereto) for GBS, CSL, MSL and FXL have been passported from the United Kingdom into Belgium and has been filed with the Commission Bancair, Financiére et des Assurances in Belgium. The prospectuses (and any supplements thereto) for GBS, CSL, MSL and FXL may be distributed to investors in Belgium.
For Swiss investors: The prospectus (and any supplements thereto) for SCSL may be distributed to investors in Switzerland. Securities in SCSL are not shares or units in collective investment schemes within the meaning of CISA. They have not been approved by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and are not subject to its supervision. The Swiss Franc Currency-Hedged Commodity Securities are not issued or guaranteed by a supervised financial intermediary within the meaning of CISA.
This document does not constitute a prospectus under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 and is not an offer or an invitation to acquire securities in SCSL. This document does not constitute a Swiss listing prospectus under the SIX Listing Rules and the SIX Additional Rules for the listing of Exchange Traded Products. This document must be read in conjunction with the Swiss Listing Prospectus. If there is any inconsistency between this document and the Swiss Listing Prospectus, the Swiss Listing Prospectus shall prevail. Detailed information on the terms and conditions of the Swiss Franc Currency-Hedged Commodity Securities can be found in the Swiss Listing Prospectus under Part 6 – Trust Instrument and Swiss Franc Currency-Hedged Commodity Securities.
Other than as set out above investors may contact ETFS UK at +44 (0)20 7448 4330 or at info@etfsecurities.com to obtain copies of prospectuses and related regulatory documentation, including annual reports. Other than as separately indicated, this communication is being made on a ”private placement” basis and is intended solely for the professional / institutional recipient to which it is delivered.
Securities issued by the Issuers are direct, limited recourse obligations of the relevant Issuer alone and are not obligations of or guaranteed by any of UBS AG (”UBS”), Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. (”MLCI”), Merrill Lynch International (”MLI”), Bank of America Corporation (”BAC”), Bloomberg Finance LP (”Bloomberg”), Société Générale (”SG ”), Shell Trading Switzerland, Shell Treasury, HSBC Bank plc, JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Morgan Stanley & Co International plc, Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated or any of their affiliates or anyone else or any of their affiliates. Each of UBS, MLCI, MLI, BAC, Bloomberg, SG, Shell Trading Switzerland, Shell Treasury, HSBC Bank plc, JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Morgan Stanley & Co International plc and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated disclaims all and any liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) which it might have in respect of this communication or its contents otherwise arising in connection herewith.
Funds
Austria: Investors should base their investment decision only on the relevant prospectus of the Company, the Key Investor Information Document, any supplements or addenda thereto, the latest annual reports and semi-annual reports and the memorandum of incorporation and the articles of association, which can be obtained free of charge upon request at the Paying and Information Agent in Austria, Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG, Graben 21, A1010 Wien, Österreich and on www.etfsecurities.com.
France: Any subscription for shares of the Funds will be made on the basis of the terms of the prospectus, the simplified prospectus and any supplements or addenda thereto. The Company is a UCITS governed by Irish legislation and approved by the Financial Regulator as UCITS compliant with European regulations although may not have to comply with the same rules as those applicable to a similar product approved in France. Certain of the Funds have been registered for marketing in France by the Authority Financial Markets (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) and may be distributed to investors in France. Copies of all documents (i.e. the prospectus (including any supplements or addenda thereto, the Key Investor Information Document, the latest annual reports and the memorandum of incorporation and articles of association) are available in France, free of charge, at the French Centralizing Agent, Société Générale, Securities Services, at 1-5 rue du Débarcadère, 92700 Colombes – France. Germany: The offering of the Shares of the Fund has been notified to the German Financial Services Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in accordance with section 310 of the German Investment Code (KAGB). Copies of all documents (i.e. the Key Investor Information Document (in the German language), the prospectus, any supplements or addenda thereto, the latest annual reports and semi-annual reports and the memorandum of incorporation and the articles of association) can be obtained free of charge upon request at the Paying and Information Agent in Germany, HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG, Königsallee 21-23, 40212 Düsseldorf and on www.etfsecurities.com. The current offering and redemption prices as well as the net asset value and possible notifications of the investors can also be requested free of charge at the same address. In Germany the Shares will be settled as co-owner shares in a Global Bearer certificate issued by Clearstream Banking AG. This type of settlement only occurs in Germany because there is no direct link between the English and German clearing and settlement systems CREST and Clearstream. For this reason the ISIN used for trading of the Shares in Germany differs from the ISIN used in other countries.
Netherlands: Each Fund has been registered with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets following the UCITS passport-procedure pursuant to section 2:72 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act.
United Kingdom: Each Fund is a recognised scheme under section 264 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and so the prospectus may be distributed to investors in the United Kingdom. Copies of all documents (i.e. the Key Investor Information Document, the prospectus, any supplements or addenda thereto, the latest annual reports and semi-annual reports and the memorandum of incorporation and the articles of association) are available in the United Kingdom from www.etfsecurities.com.
None of the index providers of the Funds referred to herein nor their licensors make any warranty or representation whatsoever either as to the results obtained from use of the relevant indices and/or the figures at which such indices stand at any particular day or otherwise. None of the index providers shall be liable to any person for any errors or significant delays in the relevant indices nor shall be under any obligation to advise any person of any error or significant delay therein.
Commodity Research – Gold and silver: similar, but different
Highlights
Silver is often looked at in gold’s shadow. The price performance of two metals is 80% correlated. We find that the best way to model silver prices is by looking at gold prices.
However, we identify key differences between the two metals. Whereas gold operates like a currency or monetary asset, silver behaves more like a ‘normal’ commodity, responding to changes in supply and demand.
Silver is likely to trade around US$23/oz next year, up from just below US$20/oz currently.
Silver in gold’s shadow
Silver’s price performance is 80% correlated with gold’s price performance. When investor sentiment toward gold turns more positive, optimism toward silver usually follows. For example, as gold prices rose in January 2016 and inflows into gold ETPs surged, silver prices and ETP inflows substantially rose in February 2016.
We find that the best way to model silver prices is to look at gold prices and a number of silver supply and demand indicators. Modelling silver prices on gold alone can give a R-squaredi of 55%. We can enhance the model by looking adding specific silver supply and demand indicators. That raises the R-squared to close to 70%.
When modelling gold prices, we found that physical supply and demand did not help explain prices. In contrast, for silver indicators of supply and demand matters.
More than 50% of silver’s demand comes from industrial fabrication, whereas less than 10% of gold demand comes from that sector. We found global manufacturing PMIs to be a good proxy for industrial demand.
Changes in futures exchange silver inventory and lagged changes in global mining capital expenditure (capex) provide a good proxy for supply of silver. Increases in exchange inventory indicate that more of the metal is readily available. As 75% of silver comes as a by-product of mining for other metals we look at aggregate mining capex across the top 100 metal miners. We lag that change in capex by 18 months as its takes time for changes in investment to translate into changes in supply.
(Click to enlarge)
Out of sample testing from 2014 shows that the model performs well and captures key turning points in silver’s performance.
(Click to enlarge)
The big spike in silver’s price in 2010-2011 is very difficult to explain. Anecdotally it was accounted for by the market’s reaction to central bank expansion of their balance sheets in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
However, the fact that central bank balance sheets remained bloated for some time afterwards and that silver prices deflated indicates that the price gains were overdone and we believe that period was effectively a price bubble.
Silver to US$23/oz
We expect gold to rise to US$1440/oz in 2017. We assume that global manufacturing PMIs will still be weighed-down by poor performance in large developed economies (outside of US) but get some uplift from the US and emerging markets and therefore rise by a modest 1%. To be conservative, we also assume that exchange inventory, which has been elevated recently, does not decline. Lastly following the 20% y-o-y decline in miner capex 6 months ago, we have an input for the 18-month lagged capex factor in the model. Based on these inputs, silver is likely to rise by just under 20%, to just over US$23/oz.
Exploring silver fundamentals
While the model presented above displays a high R-square, it ties the price of one commodity to another without exploring all of the metal’s own fundamentals.
For illustrative purposes we remove gold prices from the model and introduce some of the explanitory variables from our gold model into the silver model. This second model has a lower R-square and the forecasting power of the model is more comprimised by the 20110-2011 bubble than the simple model.
We find a number of interesting observations from this excerise:
• Unlike for gold, nominal treasury yields are not a significant explanitory variable for silver. This accords with the fact that gold behaves more like a currency/fiancial asset than silver.
• While consumer price inflation (CPI) is a statisticaly significant driver for silver, producer price inflation (PPI) is statistically stronger. This reflects silver’s industrial qualities.
• In contrast to gold, supply of the silver tends to influence its price. Because mine supply of gold represents only a tiny fraction of the above ground stock of gold, and a large amount of gold is held in bullion and jewellery form, changes in mine supply account for very little of the gold that changes hands each year. In contrast a large amount of silver mined goes into industrial applications and thefore is ‘consumed’ until the goods using silver, such as electrical products or photovoltaic panels, is recycled. We measure silver supply in three different ways: silver ore production, change in exchange inventory and an 18-month lag to miner capex.
• Like gold, silver priced in US Dollars is driven by the trade-weighted US Dollar exchange rate.
• Like gold, sentiment towards the metal measured by futures market specualtive positioing is a significant explanitory variable.
Summary of expansive silver model:
(Click to enlarge)
Application of this second model is more difficult, because it does not deal with the 2010-2011 bubble so well. Also current current specualtive positioning in silver futures looks very streteched. Futures market optimism was no-where near this high, even in the 2010-2011 bubble and so a model calibrated on historic data, would look to forecast silver prices substantially higher than where they are today.
(Click to enlarge)
Using the same assumption for currency movement we had in our gold model and consistent movements in PPI inflation as we had for CPIii, we look at what price the model would give us. We also assume that speculative positioning in silver remains elevated, but not as overstretched as they are right nowiii. We assume that ore production supply or exchange inventory don’t increase and that lagged capex in mining declines 20% (as in the simple model). This model gives us a price close to US$25/oz (25% increase) in 2017. However, we believe the first simple model is likely to give more reliable results. The second model simply helps us the understand some of the fundamental drivers of silver better.
i A measure of how close the fitted data and actual data are. 0% means that the model explains none of the variability and 100% means the model explains all the variability. ii We assumed CPI inflation will rise from 0.8% to 1.1% in the gold model and PPI inflation rise from 0% to 0.5% in the silver model. iii Speculative positioning is currently above 87,000 contracts. We assume positioning trims to 40,000 contracts, which is elevated compared to the 27,000 series average.
For more information contact:
ETF Securities Research team
ETF Securities (UK) Limited
T +44 (0) 207 448 4336
E info@etfsecurities.com
Important Information
The analyses in the above tables are purely for information purposes. They do not reflect the performance of any ETF Securities’ products . The futures and roll returns are not necessarily investable.
General
This communication has been provided by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”).
This communication is only targeted at qualified or professional investors.
The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value.
This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.
This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective, officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.
ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.
