Headline: COMEX Comes Under Pressure as BRICS Silver Premium Pulls Metal East — JP Morgan Quietly Accumulates The disconnect between paper silver on COMEX and physical silver flowing into BRICS-linked markets is intensifying, and market participants are watching closely. Registered inventories are being drawn down rapidly while large institutions accelerate physical accumulation — a dynamic that’s concentrating stress in the deliverable corners of the Western market and nudging big banks like J.P. Morgan into larger physical positions. What’s happening, in numbers - In the first week of January 2026, COMEX warehouses recorded a 33.45 million-ounce withdrawal — roughly 26% of the exchange’s registered silver supply — in just seven days. - The March 2026 COMEX futures contract shows approximately 528 million ounces of exposure against only about 113 million ounces of registered (deliverable) silver — more than four times the available deliverable supply for that month. - Physical silver accumulation by large institutional buyers has been underway for about 16 months, creating sustained demand in Eastern markets. East-West price gap and flows Shanghai has been trading at roughly a $5–$10 per ounce premium to Western benchmarks for months. That premium is powerful enough to pull metal out of Western warehouses and into Asia. Miles Franklin CEO Andy Schechman put the strain in stark terms: “The market stays calm until it doesn’t. If even 20% of that silver stands for delivery, that’s 50 million ounces with a 90 million ounce registered category. It’s putting serious stress on the market.” J.P. Morgan’s role Analysts say J.P. Morgan has been quietly ramping up its physical silver activity and delivery posture at COMEX, positioning for a potential repricing. Market mechanics help explain why: if an intermediary ships 50 million ounces to Shanghai and captures a $10/oz premium, that’s $500 million in gross spread — and VAT on imports is borne by the recipient once metal leaves the Shanghai exchange, not by the sender. That structure highlights how valuable physical metal can be once removed from the Western paper market. Operational knock-on effects - Margin hikes and forced liquidations have cleared many leveraged traders out of the market. - Refiners have reportedly been unable to process metal they’ve bought, having been margin-called before they could complete refining operations. Price outlook J.P. Morgan Global Research has materially revised its silver outlook since November 2025. Their updated forecast projects an average silver price of about $81/oz for 2026 — more than double the 2025 average of $40.10/oz — and cites amplified Chinese investment demand as a key price driver. Why crypto and tokenized metals traders should care The widening gulf between “paper” COMEX pricing and real-world physical demand is not just a bullion-market story — it matters for tokenized metals, collateralized stablecoins, and other crypto products tied to off-chain silver. If physical scarcity continues to intensify relative to futures-market supply, the market could see abrupt repricing events that ripple into on-chain instruments claiming exposure to physical metal. Bottom line COMEX registered inventories are under visible strain as East-West price differentials and sustained physical buying pull silver out of Western channels. With concentrated futures exposure, refiners under pressure, and major institutions like J.P. Morgan accumulating and adjusting delivery strategies, analysts warn the gap between paper pricing and physical demand is unlikely to close quietly — and that could be a major catalyst for a broader market revaluation. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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