STUDY SHOWS ONLY LIMITED OPTIMISM FOR SILVER

  Silver looks "unlikely to break out of
  gold and platinum's shadow" in the near future, although this
  year is likely to see demand increasing at a faster rate than
  supply, a study by Credit Suisse said.
      The study predicted demand rising by 300 tonnes to 13,200
  tonnes this year, against a 50 tonne increase in supply to
  14,050 tonnes. This should cut the global oversupply to 850
  tonnes from last year's provisional 1,100 tonnes.
      The study noted that the effects of last year's lower
  prices were having a dampening effect on total supply, which
  was now back down to around levels of a decade ago.
      However, the study said that primary production, likely to
  reach 10,000 tonnes this year against a provisional 9,950 in
  1986, is relatively insensitive to price falls.
      Around a third of silver production comes from heavily
  indebted Mexico and Peru.
      Price-sensitivity is also reduced by the fact that the
  majority of silver is a by-product of other mining activity.
  

