Soaring worldwide gold, silver prices lead to surge in trading in Estonia
Estonia's precious-metal traders say they are swamped at a time when both gold and silver have hit record-high prices on the world markets.
Shortages are felt most in silver, where sales have surged. At the start of this year, the world market price of gold exceeded the threshold of US$4,700 per ounce for the first time. Silver prices are now making a record-breaking rise, with more than US$90 per ounce having to be paid.
Precious metals dealers operating in Estonia say almost unanimously that, due to the high market prices of gold and silver, their purchase and sales volumes have also risen sharply.
Ljubov-Luule Emmar, owner and managing director of Luutar OÜ, a pawnshop chain with more than 20 branches nationwide, said significantly more precious metal is being sold than was the case a couple of years ago. Compared with the beginning of 2025, volumes have nearly doubled, she said.
At the same time, the unprecedentedly high price of gold and silver has also put pressure on traders dealing in precious metals. Emmar gave as an example that, whereas if two years ago they paid €2,800 for a 100-gram gold chain, nowadays they'd have to pay nearly €6,600 for the same item.
Purchases of silver jewelry and items have risen fivefold
Mait Kraun, an economic analyst at AS Tavid, a chain that deals in currency exchange and gold sales, said the rise in gold and silver prices has led to a sharp increase in activity in both buying and selling.
"If we look at the beginning of the new year, activity has risen sharply, especially in the silver market. The purchase of silver jewelry, tableware, and other items has increased fivefold compared with the same period last year. If we also take into account the rise in the price of silver, the volumes of scrap silver purchases, measured in euros, have grown 15-fold," Kraun noted.
The silver market has been running at a shortage for five years already, he added, mainly due to the growth in industrial demand for silver.
Its uses include solar panels, electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence data centers. Strong market optimism on AI also means a perfect storm is emerging, Kraun added, leading to bottlenecks and supply issues. "Delivery times are also long – if we order silver from the producer now, we won't get it until a month later," Kraun said.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
