What is the Shanghai silver price today?

The Shanghai silver price is the price of silver traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), China's primary precious metals exchange. It is quoted in Chinese yuan per gram but we convert it to USD per troy ounce for easy comparison with Western spot prices. Check our live tracker for the current price.

What is the Shanghai Premium?

The Shanghai Premium is the price difference between precious metals in China (SGE) and Western markets (COMEX/LBMA). A positive premium indicates higher prices in China, suggesting strong local demand. A negative premium (discount) suggests weaker Chinese demand. It's a key indicator watched by global investors.

Why are silver prices different in China vs Western markets?

Silver prices differ between China and Western markets due to: 1) Import restrictions and quotas limiting supply in China, 2) Strong local jewelry and industrial demand, 3) Currency exchange rate fluctuations (USD/CNY), 4) Transaction costs and VAT taxes, 5) Physical delivery requirements on SGE vs paper trading on COMEX.

Is the Shanghai Premium a good indicator for precious metals investing?

Yes, the Shanghai Premium is closely watched by investors as an indicator of Chinese physical demand. A rising premium often signals strong buying in China (the world's largest gold consumer), while a declining or negative premium may indicate weakening demand. Some traders use premium divergence for arbitrage opportunities.

What is the difference between SGE and SHFE?

The Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) is China's spot market for physical precious metals delivery, while the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) trades futures contracts. SGE prices reflect immediate physical demand, while SHFE prices include future delivery expectations. Both are important for understanding China's precious metals market.

When is the Shanghai Gold Exchange open for trading?

The Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) trades Monday to Friday with multiple sessions: Day session 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM (Beijing Time), plus a night session from 8:00 PM - 2:30 AM. This overlaps with Western market hours, allowing global price discovery.

What is the China silver price in dollars (USD)?

The China silver price in US dollars is calculated by converting Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) silver prices from Chinese yuan per kilogram to USD per troy ounce. This conversion enables direct comparison with Western spot prices from COMEX and LBMA. Our live tracker automatically converts SGE silver prices to dollars using real-time USD/CNY exchange rates.

Does the Shanghai silver price include VAT?

The SGE benchmark silver price does not include VAT, and the Western spot price we compare it against is also pre-VAT. The headline Shanghai premium is therefore a clean pre-VAT-vs-pre-VAT spread; VAT is not a component of it. China does levy a 13% VAT on silver imports, which raises landed cost for importers and retail cost for Chinese consumers, but those are separate numbers from the published premium.

Why do traders watch Shanghai silver prices?

Traders watch Shanghai silver prices because China is the world's largest silver consumer, driven by massive solar panel manufacturing and industrial demand. The Shanghai premium serves as a real-time gauge of Chinese physical demand: when it rises, it often precedes global price moves. The SGE's physical delivery requirement also makes it a more accurate indicator of real supply and demand compared to paper-heavy Western futures markets.

How does China's solar panel industry affect silver demand?

China manufactures over 80% of the world's solar panels, and each panel requires approximately 20 grams of silver for its photovoltaic cells. As global solar capacity expands rapidly, China's industrial silver consumption continues to grow, with solar panel production now accounting for a significant share of total global silver demand. This structural demand growth is a key factor supporting higher Shanghai silver prices relative to Western markets.

How far back does the Shanghai premium history go?

MetalCharts tracks the Shanghai silver and gold premium daily from 2020 onwards. SGE itself publishes pricing back to 2002, but accurate USD-converted premium series require an aligned spot Western benchmark series and an aligned USD/CNY series, which we standardize from 2020 forward to keep the data internally consistent.

What's the all-time high Shanghai silver premium?

During the post-pandemic supply squeeze in 2021 and again briefly during the SGE silver disruption in early 2024, premiums spiked above $5/oz (roughly 25-30% above Western spot). The annual average premium tends to settle in the $0.50-$1.50/oz range (3-7% above Western), with the highest sustained averages occurring in years of strong Chinese industrial demand and tight global silver supply.

Why does the Shanghai premium fluctuate so much?

Three structural drivers: (1) Chinese physical demand cycles — jewelers, refiners, solar panel manufacturers buy in bursts; (2) silver export restrictions and import duties that limit arbitrage between SGE and Western markets; (3) USD/CNY currency flow distortions during periods of capital controls. Day-to-day, the premium also moves with USD/CNY shifts even when SGE is closed, since one leg is in CNY and the other in USD.

Is a high Shanghai premium bullish for silver?

It's historically been a leading indicator of physical tightness, which often (but not always) precedes Western price strength. Sustained premium above $2/oz combined with falling SGE inventory has preceded several major silver rallies. However, premium can spike on temporary disruptions (logistics, regulation) without a meaningful Western price impact. Use it alongside SGE inventory withdrawals and CFTC positioning.

How do Chinese holidays affect the historical premium?

During SGE closures (Lunar New Year, Golden Week) the premium displayed on charts is mechanically meaningless — the SGE leg is frozen at its last close while Western markets keep trading. We mark these windows on charts and exclude them from historical averages, but they're visible in the raw data.

What happened during the 2024 SGE silver disruption?

In early 2024, SGE silver experienced an unusual liquidity event tied to a temporary suspension of bulk withdrawals, which briefly drove the apparent premium to multi-year highs as Western buyers couldn't easily arbitrage the difference. The premium normalized within several weeks once SGE clarified withdrawal procedures. We surface this episode in the historical chart with annotation.

Shanghai Premium History

The Shanghai silver and gold premium — the spread between SGE benchmark prices (in USD-equivalent) and Western spot — is one of the cleanest physical-tightness signals in the global precious-metals market. This page covers the full daily series from 2020 to today, the annual averages, the most extreme outlier days, and the macro events that drove them.

Written by

MetalCharts Editorial

Published May 12, 2026

Why the historical view matters

The headline Shanghai premium on any given day is noisy — USD/CNY shifts, single-day SGE disruptions, and Western market holidays all push the displayed number around. The signal is in the trend: how the premium behaves over weeks and months, where the annual average sits, and which years saw sustained outlier premiums.

Sustained high premium periods (annual average above $1.50/oz silver, or $20/oz gold) have historically lined up with strong Chinese physical demand and have been associated with subsequent strength in Western prices. Sustained low premium periods often reflect ample physical supply and weaker demand cycles.

Key caveat: the apparent premium can move significantly with USD/CNY without any change in underlying physical tightness. To isolate the physical signal, watch the premium and SGE inventory withdrawals together (we surface withdrawals on the SGE inventory page).

Year-by-year context

2020: Shanghai premium volatile during initial COVID disruption. Silver premium briefly spiked in March-April 2020 as Western COMEX disorder spread to physical markets, then normalized to ~$0.30-$0.80/oz for the rest of the year.
2021: Strong Chinese industrial silver demand (solar panel buildout) drove sustained premium above $1.50/oz for much of the year. Annual average premium one of the highest on record.
2022: Premium normalized as global silver markets adjusted to Russia-Ukraine driven flows. USD/CNY weakness mid-year temporarily compressed the displayed premium without much change in underlying physical tightness.
2023: Premium tightened as Chinese silver imports surged, with average premium settling in the $0.50-$1.20/oz range. SGE silver inventory withdrawals hit multi-year highs in Q3.
2024: Brief disruption in Q1 (see FAQ) drove premium to short-term outlier highs. Underlying premium normalized to historical averages by mid-year.
2025: Sustained higher premium driven by silver squeeze dynamics in Western markets and continued Chinese solar/industrial demand. Premium frequently above $2/oz in second half.

How to read the premium chart

Hover any point on the historical chart to see the SGE benchmark price (CNY/g for gold, CNY/kg for silver), the USD-converted equivalent, the Western spot price for the same minute, and the resulting premium in both USD/oz and percentage terms.

SGE holidays (Lunar New Year, Golden Week, Mid-Autumn Festival) are flagged on the chart with shaded windows. The premium during those windows is held flat at the most recent close while Western markets continue trading; do not interpret those plateaus as real physical signals.

Decade- and year-level averages are computed from clean trading days only (holiday windows excluded), so they are directly comparable across years.

Frequently asked questions

How far back does the Shanghai premium history go?: MetalCharts tracks the Shanghai silver and gold premium daily from 2020 onwards. SGE itself publishes pricing back to 2002, but accurate USD-converted premium series require an aligned spot Western benchmark series and an aligned USD/CNY series, which we standardize from 2020 forward to keep the data internally consistent.
What's the all-time high Shanghai silver premium?: During the post-pandemic supply squeeze in 2021 and again briefly during the SGE silver disruption in early 2024, premiums spiked above $5/oz (roughly 25-30% above Western spot). The annual average premium tends to settle in the $0.50-$1.50/oz range (3-7% above Western), with the highest sustained averages occurring in years of strong Chinese industrial demand and tight global silver supply.
Why does the Shanghai premium fluctuate so much?: Three structural drivers: (1) Chinese physical demand cycles — jewelers, refiners, solar panel manufacturers buy in bursts; (2) silver export restrictions and import duties that limit arbitrage between SGE and Western markets; (3) USD/CNY currency flow distortions during periods of capital controls. Day-to-day, the premium also moves with USD/CNY shifts even when SGE is closed, since one leg is in CNY and the other in USD.
Is a high Shanghai premium bullish for silver?: It's historically been a leading indicator of physical tightness, which often (but not always) precedes Western price strength. Sustained premium above $2/oz combined with falling SGE inventory has preceded several major silver rallies. However, premium can spike on temporary disruptions (logistics, regulation) without a meaningful Western price impact. Use it alongside SGE inventory withdrawals and CFTC positioning.
How do Chinese holidays affect the historical premium?: During SGE closures (Lunar New Year, Golden Week) the premium displayed on charts is mechanically meaningless — the SGE leg is frozen at its last close while Western markets keep trading. We mark these windows on charts and exclude them from historical averages, but they're visible in the raw data.
What happened during the 2024 SGE silver disruption?: In early 2024, SGE silver experienced an unusual liquidity event tied to a temporary suspension of bulk withdrawals, which briefly drove the apparent premium to multi-year highs as Western buyers couldn't easily arbitrage the difference. The premium normalized within several weeks once SGE clarified withdrawal procedures. We surface this episode in the historical chart with annotation.