By Ashitha Shivaprasad

LONDON (Reuters) -Silver that flooded into the United States earlier this year due to fears of tariffs on imports is likely to head back to the London physical market, where shortages of available metal drove the spot price above U.S. futures.

Traders seeking to avoid potential tariffs have been shipping silver to the United States due to its inclusion on a draft list of U.S. critical minerals in September, part of a push to secure domestic supply chains for key metals.

Spot silver was trading around $50.10 per ounce on Friday, after hitting a record high of $51.22 on Thursday, while silver futures on Comex were last at $48.1.

That price differential is wide enough to make it profitable for traders to bring silver back to London, analysts said.

“There’s a genuin

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