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Speculators have been burned by the devil’s metal, too.
投機者們也被這魔鬼的金屬灼傷了。
After the global financial crisis of 2007-09, faltering industrial demand and a spotlight on haven assets meant silver’s price depended more than ever on traders’ whims.
在2007年至2009年的全球金融危機之后，工業需求的疲軟和對避險資產的關注意味著白銀的價格比以往任何時候都更依賴于交易者的心血來潮。
As a result, the silver-to-gold price ratio spent years moving in line with the gold price.
因此，銀價與金價的比率多年來一直與金價同步波動。
A bet on silver became an amplified bet on gold—a relationship cherished by hedge funds, which would usually have had to pay for a margin loan to obtain such leverage.
對白銀押注變成了對黃金押注的放大版，這種關系被對沖基金所珍視，他們通常需要支付保證金貸款才能獲得這樣的杠桿。
The relationship then fell apart towards the end of the 2010s, causing traders relying on it to lose their shirts, as silver abruptly fell out of fashion with investors.
這種關系在2010年代末期破裂，導致依賴這種關系的交易者血本無歸，白銀也突然不再受到投資者的青睞。
Now it is back in vogue.
現在白銀又重歸時尚。
Central banks have spent years building up their gold reserves.
各國央行多年來一直在增加黃金儲備。
In September Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported that its government would soon start buying silver, too.
9月，俄羅斯新聞機構國際文傳電訊社報道，俄羅斯政府也將很快開始購買白銀。
Last year was the first since 2021 that silver exchange-traded funds, which individuals use to buy commodities, saw net inflows.
去年是自2021年以來，個人用于購買大宗商品的白銀交易所交易基金首次出現凈流入。
This year traders in New York have been draining London’s vaults of gold, amid fears that such imports may face tariffs in the future.
今年，紐約的交易員們一直在從倫敦的金庫中買走黃金，原因是擔心未來進口黃金可能會面臨關稅。
They have been snapping up silver even faster—so much so, in fact, that the transatlantic price gap justifies loading bars of it onto commercial flights.
紐約交易員們搶購白銀的速度更快，事實上已經快到大西洋兩岸的銀價出現差距，并導致銀條必須用商業航班運輸。
What is more, a widening gulf between supply and demand looks likely to keep the frenzy going.
此外，供需之間的差距不斷擴大，似乎有可能使這種狂熱持續下去。
The annual supply of silver, driven by mining production and recycling, has contracted slightly over the past decade, according to the Silver Institute, a research outfit.
根據研究機構白銀研究所的數據，過去十年間，由采礦產量和回收推動的白銀年供應量略有收縮。
Over the same period, industrial demand has surged by more than 50%, owing largely to silver’s use in solar panels.
同一時期，工業需求激增了50%以上，主要是因為白銀在太陽能電池板中的使用。
Imports into China, which manufactures large quantities of these, have shot up.
中國大量生產太陽能電池板，因此中國進口的白銀數量大幅上升。
Since mining capacity cannot be expanded quickly, the imbalance should continue to boost silver’s price for some time.
由于采礦產能無法迅速擴大，因此這種供需失衡狀態應該會在一段時間內繼續推高白銀價格。
As the world becomes a more fractious place, it is hard to imagine investors’ demand for haven assets falling soon.
隨著世界變得更加動蕩，很難想象投資者對避險資產的需求會很快下降。
Meanwhile, the incentives for governments to store value in places beyond the reach of Uncle Sam are growing.
與此同時，各國政府也越來越想把價值儲存在美國無法觸及的地方。
That is a big reason why central bankers have been buying so much gold of late.
這就是各國央行最近一直在大量購買黃金的一個主要原因。
Some may be tempted, along with Donald Trump, to include cryptocurrencies in their reserves.
有些人可能會像唐納德·特朗普一樣，忍不住想將加密貨幣也納入自己的儲備中。
But there is another precious metal that could do the job, too.
但是還有另一種貴金屬也能勝任這項工作。
It is time for silverites to come in from the cold.
是時候讓白銀支持者們不再受冷落了。
