Speculators have been burned by the devil’s metal, too.
投机者们也被这魔鬼的金属灼伤了。
After the global financial crisis of 2007-09, faltering industrial demand and a spotlight on haven assets meant silver’s price depended more than ever on traders’ whims.
在2007年至2009年的全球金融危机之后,工业需求的疲软和对避险资产的关注意味着白银的价格比以往任何时候都更依赖于交易者的心血来潮。
As a result, the silver-to-gold price ratio spent years moving in line with the gold price.
因此,银价与金价的比率多年来一直与金价同步波动。
A bet on silver became an amplified bet on gold—a relationship cherished by hedge funds, which would usually have had to pay for a margin loan to obtain such leverage.
对白银押注变成了对黄金押注的放大版,这种关系被对冲基金所珍视,他们通常需要支付保证金贷款才能获得这样的杠杆。
The relationship then fell apart towards the end of the 2010s, causing traders relying on it to lose their shirts, as silver abruptly fell out of fashion with investors.
这种关系在2010年代末期破裂,导致依赖这种关系的交易者血本无归,白银也突然不再受到投资者的青睐。
Now it is back in vogue.
现在白银又重归时尚。
Central banks have spent years building up their gold reserves.
各国央行多年来一直在增加黄金储备。
In September Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported that its government would soon start buying silver, too.
9月,俄罗斯新闻机构国际文传电讯社报道,俄罗斯政府也将很快开始购买白银。
Last year was the first since 2021 that silver exchange-traded funds, which individuals use to buy commodities, saw net inflows.
去年是自2021年以来,个人用于购买大宗商品的白银交易所交易基金首次出现净流入。
This year traders in New York have been draining London’s vaults of gold, amid fears that such imports may face tariffs in the future.
今年,纽约的交易员们一直在从伦敦的金库中买走黄金,原因是担心未来进口黄金可能会面临关税。
They have been snapping up silver even faster—so much so, in fact, that the transatlantic price gap justifies loading bars of it onto commercial flights.
纽约交易员们抢购白银的速度更快,事实上已经快到大西洋两岸的银价出现差距,并导致银条必须用商业航班运输。
What is more, a widening gulf between supply and demand looks likely to keep the frenzy going.
此外,供需之间的差距不断扩大,似乎有可能使这种狂热持续下去。
The annual supply of silver, driven by mining production and recycling, has contracted slightly over the past decade, according to the Silver Institute, a research outfit.
根据研究机构白银研究所的数据,过去十年间,由采矿产量和回收推动的白银年供应量略有收缩。
Over the same period, industrial demand has surged by more than 50%, owing largely to silver’s use in solar panels.
同一时期,工业需求激增了50%以上,主要是因为白银在太阳能电池板中的使用。
Imports into China, which manufactures large quantities of these, have shot up.
中国大量生产太阳能电池板,因此中国进口的白银数量大幅上升。
Since mining capacity cannot be expanded quickly, the imbalance should continue to boost silver’s price for some time.
由于采矿产能无法迅速扩大,因此这种供需失衡状态应该会在一段时间内继续推高白银价格。
As the world becomes a more fractious place, it is hard to imagine investors’ demand for haven assets falling soon.
随着世界变得更加动荡,很难想象投资者对避险资产的需求会很快下降。
Meanwhile, the incentives for governments to store value in places beyond the reach of Uncle Sam are growing.
与此同时,各国政府也越来越想把价值储存在美国无法触及的地方。
That is a big reason why central bankers have been buying so much gold of late.
这就是各国央行最近一直在大量购买黄金的一个主要原因。
Some may be tempted, along with Donald Trump, to include cryptocurrencies in their reserves.
有些人可能会像唐纳德·特朗普一样,忍不住想将加密货币也纳入自己的储备中。
But there is another precious metal that could do the job, too.
但是还有另一种贵金属也能胜任这项工作。
It is time for silverites to come in from the cold.
是时候让白银支持者们不再受冷落了。