The resumption of economic activities has increased the demand for silver in industrial markets while safe-haven investors are procuring the precious metal as a hedge against volatility. Moreover, as governments across the globe are working on their goals to achieve electrification over the next decade, the demand for silver should keep rising. Therefore, Silvercorp Metals (NYSE:SVM) and Great Panther (GPL) could be good investment bets now.Silver has been one of the highly coveted precious metals over the past year, given its demand from risk-averse investors as a safe-haven investment, as well as from the booming electric vehicle (EV) industry. While iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) hit its 52-week high of $27.98 on February 1, 2021, it declined 15.6% since then to close yesterday’s trading session at $23.62. However, there are enough reasons to expect the metal to hit fresh highs in the upcoming months.
Fears of inflation and the resurgence of coronavirus are expected to boost the demand for silver in the near term. Also, President Biden’s $3 trillion infrastructure package and the initiatives of governments across the globe to replace gasoline-powered vehicles with EVs should drive the demand for the metal further. Based on these facts, the Silver Institute forecasts a rise in global silver demand by 11% year-over-year to 1.03 billion ounces in 2021.
Thus, budding small-cap silver mining companies like Silvercorp Metals Inc . (SVM) and Great Panther Mining Ltd. (GPL) have been trying efficient and quick methods to drill and mine silver and are well-positioned to deliver solid returns.