Silver’s dual identity: The energy transition, The Great Divergence, and Taiwan’s strategic challenge

This paper investigates the structural transformation of the global silver market, analyzing its paradigm shift from a primarily financial asset to a critical industrial material essential for the 21st-century energy transition. By synthesizing recent market data from 2024 and 2025, this study identifies a novel market phenomenon termed “The Great Divergence,” characterized by a simultaneous rise in global visible inventories and spot prices—a significant deviation from traditional supply-demand equilibrium models described in resource economics. We argue that this anomaly signals a “strategic repricing” of silver, reflecting its elevation to a matter of energy security. Furthermore, this paper applies this global framework to a comprehensive case study of Taiwan, an island economy with inelastic, policy-driven demand for silver in its photovoltaic (PV), electric vehicle (EV), and grid modernization sectors. The findings suggest that Taiwan faces a compounded risk profile: physical import dependency exacerbated by economic vulnerability to structural price inflation. We conclude by proposing a strategic pivot from “Just-in-Time” (JIT) procurement to “Just-in-Case” (JIC) stockpiling and technological innovation to mitigate these existential risks.