COMEX Silver Vaults Are Draining and Buyers No Longer Trust Delivery

COMEX registered silver inventories fell sharply from their September 2025 peak before partially recovering, while periods of backwardation signaled unusually tight near-term supply.

Registered silver inventories at COMEX, metal warranted and available for delivery, fell from a peak of about 201 million ounces in September 2025 to 76.4 million ounces in April 2026. The decline later reversed in part: CME warehouse data showed 104.29 million registered ounces on October 29, 2026.

Silver spent stretches of late 2025 and early 2026 in backwardation, meaning nearby prices traded above deferred contracts. That unusual structure indicated strong immediate demand and tight near-term availability. It did not, by itself, show that delivery buyers distrusted COMEX. By late October, Seeking Alpha reported that silver spreads had normalized and that the earlier inventory exodus had stopped, although inventories remained below their September 2025 peak.

https://startupfortune.com/comex-silver-vaults-are-draining-and-buyers-no-longer-trust-delivery/