But the outflows from safe-haven precious metals also smashed the silver price last year, the metal collapsing by an even-more cataclysmic 35% during the 12-month period to current lows around $19.50 per ounce. Still, in my opinion, this sustained price weakness represents a great buying opportunity as I expect a stunning rebound sooner rather than later.

In particular, I believe that rising global activity, helped by an accelerating recovery in the US, should drive industrial demand for silver higher. And I reckon that the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV.US) exchange-traded fund is a great way to gain exposure to an improving metal price.

StanChart feeds the bears

News this week that Standard Chartered had slashed its forecasts for the industrial and investment metal was music to the ears of silver bears. The broker now anticipates an average price of $18.38 an ounce for the current year, down heavily from a previous estimate of $23.13.

StanChart has raised questions that industrial off-take may not be strong enough to match declining investor demand at the present time, with the appeal of precious metals harmed by a still-difficult macroeconomic environment and subdued inflationary concerns.

Critically, however, Standard Chartered opined that “despite the bearish outlook near-term, it is worth noting that both commodities could be bottoming out in 2014 as markets rebalance.” The broker expects silver to gallop to average $21.63 and $23.50 per ounce in 2015 and 2016, driven by accelerating global growth and rising jewellery demand from emerging markets.

… but are near-term fears overplayed?

Personally speaking, I believe that the broker’s view in the immediate term is overly-pessimistic, and that robust global GDP growth should drive silver demand skywards in 2014.

Indeed, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commented in recent days that it plans to revise higher its global growth forecasts by the end of the month, helped in part by greater certainty for the US economy this year. The IMF said back in October that it expected expansion to clock in at 2.9% and 3.6% in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Meanwhile, I also believe that although concerns over surging inflation have proved unfounded, a continued backdrop of accomodative monetary policy by central banks should keep liquidity flowing, a key support for precious metal prices.

Much was made of the Fed’s decision to scale back monthly bond purchases by $10bn to $75bn in December, but with benchmark interest rates forecast to remain at record lows for the foreseeable future — combined with continued loosening by banks across the globe — should boost store-of-value silver this year and beyond.

The post Why 2014 Could Be A Great Time To Select Silver appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

And I believe that a blend of swirling macroeconomic uncertainty, combined with resilient jewellery consumption, should drive prices higher once again next year. If you share my enthusiasm and want to bet on a rising gold price, then exchange-traded funds (ETFs) SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: GLD.US) and Gold Bullion Securities (LSE: GBS) are a great way to play the gold market.

Look East for the future of gold demand

The latest quarterly trends report from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed global demand for bars, coins and jewellery surge more than a quarter in the first nine months of 2013, to a record 2,896.5 tonnes. This eye-watering growth was put down to swelling demand from Asia and the Middle East, regions that were responsible for 90% of the 600-tonne increase.

The organisation attributed this to lower gold prices, strong brand promotion in these geographies, and improved signs for the global economy due to bullish economic data from the US. Although the global economic picture remains fragile, the same drivers that pushed gold consumption higher during January-September remain in place and could underpin further strength in 2014 and beyond.

Furthermore, the WGC noted that demand for gold of a higher carat has also risen across the world, underlining the metal’s appeal as an investment asset as well as aesthetic and sentimental item. As loose monetary policy across the globe, exacerbated by rolling quantitative easing in the US, looks set to reign well into the new year and drive inflationary fears skywards, demand for the golden hard currency should remain bubbly.

Chinese inflows continue to climb

And future demand growth from emerging regions look likely to continue to be led by China, which is rapidly usurping India as the world’s number one gold market.

Latest trade data showed imports from Hong Kong rise to more than 131.2 tonnes in October, the second highest on record after March’s record high, Reuters reported. Total imports during January-October came in at 986 tonnes, double the amount seen during the corresponding 2012 period.

In my opinion, the classic fundamentals of rising populations in these emerging regions, combined with a rising middle class and with it disposable income levels, should shuttle physical gold demand higher well into the future.

The post How Strident Asian Gold Demand Should Boost Prices In 2014 appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.