According to the latest data from China Customs, China's silver product trade maintained steady growth in 2025 with an optimized trade structure. Specific details are as follows:
I. Overall Trade Scale
In 2025, China's silver product trade reached a total value of $15.222 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of 29.6%. Imports totaled $8.506 billion, growing 18.6% year-on-year, reflecting steady demand release. Exports reached $6.716 billion, surging 46.7% year-on-year, maintaining robust momentum. The trade deficit stood at $1.79 billion, continuing the previous deficit pattern, though export growth significantly outpaced imports.
In terms of trade volume, China saw growth across all categories of silver products. The increase in imports was primarily driven by silver concentrates and other semi-finished silver products, while the rise in exports was mainly attributed to silver powder and silver ingots.
II. Core Product Category Trade Details
1. Silver Concentrate Imports Reach New High
In 2025, China's silver concentrate imports continued their upward trajectory, growing by 14.1% year-on-year to reach 1.917 million metric tons in physical volume, setting a new record for import scale. Specifically, December imports surged 32.3% month-on-month to 239,000 metric tons. This influx alleviated domestic silver ore supply constraints and bolstered silver smelting output.
Cumulative imports by country revealed Peru, Mexico, and Bolivia as China's top three silver concentrate suppliers, collectively accounting for 74.1% of total imports—indicating high concentration in sourcing origins. Specifically: Imports from Peru increased by 141,000 tons to 956,000 tons, imports from Mexico rose by 400 tons to 267,000 tons, and imports from Bolivia grew by 23,000 tons to 157,000 tons.
China's silver concentrate imports are primarily concentrated in four provinces: Henan, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Shandong, demonstrating a pronounced regional clustering effect. Among these, imports to Henan, Hunan, and Shandong increased by 36,000 tons to 506,000 tons, 67,000 tons to 214,000 tons, and 24,000 tons to 197,000 tons respectively. In contrast, imports to Jiangxi decreased by 77,000 tons to 118,000 tons.
2. Domestic and International Silver Prices Rebound, December Silver Ingot Exports Decline
In 2025, China's silver ingot exports grew by 18.3% year-on-year to 5,043 tons, achieving steady overall expansion. However, December exports fell by 11.3% month-on-month to 346.4 tons, indicating a temporary slowdown in export momentum.
By trade method, processing trade dominated silver ingot exports. In 2025, processing trade exports of silver ingots increased by 14.5% year-on-year, accounting for 90.7% of total exports.
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