India's Silver Imports Plunge 96%, Disrupting the Market; Institutions Still See Silver Price Target at $70 After Correction

Source: JIN10 Data

Silver prices in correction are still seen as part of an upward cycle

While India's silver imports have plummeted, the significant correction in international silver prices following historic highs in January has prompted the market to reassess future direction. Although this decline has disappointed investors, Nitesh Shah, Head of Commodities and Macroeconomic Research at WisdomTree, believes the price retracement is a necessary process for silver to build a more sustainable bull market.

In the latest outlook report,

According to his analysis, the main support will come from gold prices strengthening; but unlike the speculative frenzy earlier this year that once drove silver above $120 per ounce, the next rally should be driven by fundamental improvement rather than momentum trading.

Shah wrote: "The January 2026 silver surge is clearly a thing of the past. Therefore, we expect silver to rise to $70 per ounce, but we see this as an upside driven by fundamental support, not a repeat of January's speculative spike."

Despite persistent volatility, silver has held key support above $50 per ounce. Shah also told Kitco News last month that the months-long correction should not be seen as a deterioration in the long-term outlook for precious metals. According to him, silver consistently tracks gold's movements, but with bigger swings.

He said: "Silver just follows gold, right? And its volatility is very high. That's the case when it goes up, and it's bound to be the same when it falls."

Shah believes that while this correction has pressured investors, lower prices may be more acceptable for industrial consumers who saw costs rise dramatically during January's surge.

WisdomTree warned in the report that if silver rises above $120 per ounce, industrial demand would shrink even faster; even at the current price around $60 per ounce, manufacturers may reduce silver usage when feasible.

In his Kitco News interview, Shah further pointed out that even after the pullback from highs, manufacturers still face significantly higher input costs. He said: "If you look at prices a year ago, we're still 60% higher now. Manufacturers have to deal with a 60% cost increase, and that's not easy to bear."

In his view, keeping silver prices within a more sustainable range ultimately helps preserve one of silver's most important long-term supports: steadily growing industrial demand. For this reason, he sees the current correction as a market repair, not a breakdown of the bullish logic.

Meanwhile, Shah remains optimistic about the investment outlook, as the same macro factors supporting gold will also benefit silver.

Editor: Zhu Henan