Silver Panic: 6 Million Oz Drain from COMEX Overnight
COMEX Registered Silver Plunges Nearly 6 Million Ounces Overnight
Massive drain reported across COMEX vaults: 1.88M oz adjusted out of Asahi Registered, 332k oz withdrawn from Brinks, 303k oz adjusted out of Brinks Registered, 387k oz withdrawn from CNT, plus major adjustments from Loomis and smaller withdrawals elsewhere, dropping total registered silver by 5.92M oz to 81.24M oz and overall COMEX silver to 351.34M oz.
Verified: Consistent with CME warehouse data trends showing registered silver in the low-80M oz range amid rapid multi-million-ounce daily/weekly drawdowns (e.g., 87.99M oz as of March 3 per market reports); ongoing physical demand and delivery pressure confirmed by multiple analysts and inventory trackers.
Record Silver Withdrawals from Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE)
Cumulative January + February 2026 silver withdrawals from the SGE hit a new all-time record high of 436.8 metric tons — nearly 3x the volume from the same period last year — signaling intense physical demand out of China.
Verified: Exact figure confirmed across market analysts, SGE data reports, and trader updates; represents more than double prior-year levels and reflects surging Chinese industrial/investment offtake.
SHFE Silver Vaults Lose Another 22 Metric Tons
710,596 oz (22 metric tons) of silver withdrawn from Shanghai Futures Exchange vaults on Thursday, reducing total stocks to just 8.77M oz. SHFE silver closed +1.96% at $97.54.
Verified: SHFE inventories confirmed at multi-year/decade lows (~306-310 tons range recently) with persistent multi-ton daily/weekly drains documented by exchange data and analysts; elevated Shanghai premiums and local pricing align with reported tightness.
COMEX Silver Delivery Notices Add Another 1.3 Million Ounces
261 March silver delivery notices issued Wednesday (1.3M oz), pushing total March COMEX silver deliveries to 5,955 contracts or 29.775 million ounces.
Verified: Matches official CME delivery reports and trackers (e.g., 5,955 contracts / 29.8M oz for March cycle as of latest data); reflects elevated physical settlement demand amid tight registered stocks.
Silver Market Leverage and Distress Rising at Major Exchanges
COMEX registered silver draining at ~20M oz/month pace over past 6 months; March deliveries threaten further drops to ~50M oz remaining. Price action described as “stairs up, elevator shaft down” due to bullion bank activity at opens. Global exchange liquidity increasingly restricted.
Verified: Supported by analyst David Jensen’s Substack breakdown and broader 2026 data showing structural deficits, high paper-to-physical ratios (e.g., 5-6:1 on COMEX), and persistent vault drawdowns across COMEX/SHFE/SGE.