The Impact of Rising Silver Prices on the Conductive Ink Market

­Rising and volatile silver prices are creating significant pressure on the conductive inks market, where silver remains a critical raw material due to its superior conductivity and durability. Conductive inks, widely used in emerging technology like printed and flexible electronics, or established solar panel markets, are becoming increasingly expensive to manufacture as silver costs surge. In response to this, manufacturers are exploring low-silver and non-silver inks such as those containing copper, carbon and conductive polymers.

For over a decade, IDTechEx has closely tracked the printed electronics and conductive inks industry, independently evaluating both technological advancements and commercial developments across the sector. The company’s latest report, "Conductive Inks Market 2026-2036: Technologies, Applications, Players", delivers detailed 10-year market forecasts while drawing on extensive analysis of key end-use applications for conductive inks. With a wide variety of conductive ink formulations available, each offering distinct characteristics such as conductivity, curing performance, and printability, the report provides an in-depth assessment of emerging ink technologies and the major application areas shaping market growth.

According to insights shared with IDTechEx by industry leaders, silver prices had remained relatively stable at $30–32 per troy ounce (oz t) for more than five years, with market fluctuations typically corrected through stockpiling and reserve releases. However, prices surged dramatically throughout 2025 and into 2026, peaking near $120/oz t before stabilizing around $85–90/oz t amid continued volatility. Similar pricing trends to those seen for silver, have also been seen for many precious metals including gold, platinum and palladium across 2025. With economic volatility increasing amid tariff uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, investors are turning to “safe havens” that are insulated from many external influences.

Beyond investor behaviour, the demand for silver continues to outstrip supply. This is exacerbated by the fact that typical mining operations for silver are a by-product of mining other minerals such as lead, copper and gold. The high conductivity of silver means that it is needed not just for conductive inks, but also for many high-growth markets, particularly in energy storage or batteries for EVs. The solar market depends on silver supply, with China reported to have built up a silver reserve of 71,000 metric tonnes (as early as 2023) to underpin its growing solar panel industry.

The Conductive Ink Market Responds

In the process of writing the new report on the conductive ink market, IDTechEx spoke to suppliers of silver flakes and conductive inks to understand reactions to the increasing silver price from players downstream in the supply chain. Small but regular orders were reported by some metal suppliers, with this behaviour said to have been adopted to allow quicker responses in ink price to fluctuations in silver prices. Other silver flake producers reported that orders were initially delayed, with customers hoping to wait out the silver spike, but have now picked back up, although buyers remain relatively cash poor.

Demand for non-silver and low-silver inks is growing across the board. Ink solution providers are developing inks to meet this demand, including copper coated in silver (Ag/Cu hybrid), low-silver and non-silver (carbon, conductive polymer, piezo, etc). Copper inks have long been desirable due to the far cheaper raw material price, and, after years of unsuccessfully battling the challenges of oxidation during sintering, are finally gaining some commercial traction. Carbon-based inks fall into 2 categories: those based on low-cost commoditised carbon (typically carbon black) and those based on more expensive conductive/semi-conducting nanocarbons such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

IDTechEx provides detailed insights into the required properties for conductive inks across more than 15 application areas. In the near term, silver/copper hybrid inks are expected to see greater adoption than other low-silver alternatives given the ease of integration into existing formulations. As technological challenges are solved, and the price gap continues to widen, copper ink is expected to see significant uptake over the coming decade, while carbon ink will see success in low-conductivity applications.

For more details on the conductive inks market, including segmentations by application area, see the new IDTechEx report, "Conductive Inks Market 2026-2036: Technologies, Applications, Players".