Industrial consumption and photography usage will increase to a combined 16,442 tons this year, the most since 2011, and rise another 2.9 percent in 2015, Barclays estimates.

‘Get Support’

Coin sales to retail investors also are up. The U.S. Mint sold 18.47 million ounces of American Eagle silver items this year, data on its website showed. That compares with 18.3 million in the first four months of last year, which was the most for the period since at least 1986 and occurred mostly before an April 12, 2013, plunge in gold set off a decline in precious metals.

“It’s reacting to some extent with gold, but we still think it’s mainly driven by industrial demand,” said Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “Silver will get support from an improving global economy, which should be reflected in higher industrial demand. I would not expect a sustained fall.”

While the U.S. and Europe are poised to expand, China, the second-biggest user after the U.S., is slowing. The economy will grow 7.3 percent this year, the least since 1990, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The nation’s silver imports dropped 36 percent from an almost three-year high to 228 tons in March, compared with a five-year average of 313.1 tons, customs data show.

Surplus Output

Silver production will exceed demand by 6,482 tons this year, up 4.4 percent from 2013, Barclays says. Inventories tracked by the Comex in New York are up 75 percent since mid-2011 and in March reached the highest since 1997.

Prices rose or fell more than 20 percent annually in seven years since 2003, more times than for gold, platinum and palladium. Silver has entered 12 bear markets in a decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The volatility is a “significant deterrent” for investors, UBS AG wrote in an April 14 report.

The metal will average $19.70 this quarter and $19.20 in the final three months of 2014, the median of the best analyst estimates show. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sees prices at $17.50 in 12 months as gold slides 19 percent to $1,050 an ounce, from $1,291.60 yesterday. The top-five analysts tracked by Bloomberg predict gold will average $1,191 in the third quarter and $1,170 in the fourth.

High Ratio