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By: Rhona O'Connell, Head of Market Analysis
As industrial production evolves, the precious metals complex is adjusting to new realities that blur the line between investment and fabrication demand. The renewed role of silver and platinum as industrial metals, alongside their traditional investment status, reflects a structural shift across the sector. This transformation is shaping pricing behavior, volatility, and long-term value perception.
Rhona O’Connell, Head of Market Analysis for EMEA and Asia at StoneX, explains how shifts in manufacturing, technology, and trade flows are altering the balance of demand across precious metals and redefining market narratives that once centered on safe-haven appeal alone.
O’Connell highlights that “70% of silver’s demand is actually in the industrial sector”, emphasizing how fabrication now drives market behavior more than investment flows. Silver’s unique blend of electrical and thermal conductivity supports its use in electronics, soldering, and automotive applications. This dual role explains why it often moves with gold yet reacts faster to cyclical industrial changes. As she notes, the metal’s versatility gives it a “schizophrenic” market character that ties its fate to both investor sentiment and factory floors.
Discussing platinum’s trajectory, O’Connell observes it has been “on a bit of a tear… over the last couple of months”. Its recovery underscores the rebound in industrial applications, particularly emission control and jewelry manufacturing. As supply chains stabilize and new technologies expand demand for catalysts and hydrogen-related uses, platinum’s fundamentals appear stronger than in recent years. Together with silver’s rise, it signals a shift where industrial momentum increasingly sets the tone for precious metals valuations.
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---- Written by Frederic Guetin, StoneX TV Producer
---- Expert: Rhona O'Connell, StoneX Head of Market Analysis
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