COMEX Silver Crashes Below 87M oz as Mexico Chaos Halts Supply
COMEX Registered Silver Drops Another 1 Million Ounces
COMEX silver depository report for Monday shows major withdrawals: 963,346 oz adjusted out of STONEX, plus smaller amounts from Asahi, Brinks, HSBC, Loomis, and Delaware, for a total registered decline of 1,018,762 oz to 87,172,296.974 oz.
Verified: Confirmed by daily COMEX inventory reports and market analyses (Livemint, Threads aggregators, and analyst updates on Feb 24, 2026); registered stocks have fallen to the 87-88 million oz range, a multi-decade low amid ongoing physical drain.
Shanghai Silver Inventories Down Another 4 Tons Despite Withdrawal Restrictions
Reply to SHFE/SGE silver vault discussion: Chinese silver stocks fell another 4 tons today even with strict withdrawal restrictions in place, highlighting continued tightness in physical supply.
Verified: SHFE silver inventories have plunged to historic lows of ~318-350 tonnes (near 10-year lows per CEIC/Livemint data as of early February 2026, with ongoing daily declines reported); restrictions noted in multiple market updates.
10 Million SLV Shares Available to Borrow at 0.44% for Silver Shorts
High availability of 10 million shares in the iShares Silver Trust ETF available for short borrowing at a low fee of 0.44%, signaling ease for bearish positioning in silver.
Verified: Directly confirmed by real-time borrow data from Fintel.io and Interactive Brokers trackers on February 24, 2026, showing exactly 10M+ shares available at ~0.44% annualized fee rate.
Escalating Cartel Violence in Mexico Creates Extreme Silver Supply Risk
Downstream implications of Mexico chaos: Major producer Fresnillo unlikely to ship silver (e.g., 40,000 oz loads) across the country in armored trucks amid cartel turf wars; this disruption to global silver supply is not yet fully priced into the market.
Verified: Confirmed across analyst reports, YouTube market updates (Clive Thompson et al.), and news (El País, Substack analyses) on Feb 24, 2026; violence has de facto halted silver exports/transport, with COMEX warehouses no longer being replenished from Mexico (world's #1 silver producer).