Silver prices have skyrocketed, leading to reports of a major case involving a silver merchant collapsing in the Shuibei market in Shenzhen.
Numerous netizens in Shenzhen, Guangdong, recently posted on social media claiming that a silver shop in Shuibei suddenly closed and ceased operations, leaving many unable to receive the precious metal plate materials they had purchased, with the owner also becoming unreachable.
On January 15, a reporter contacted Mr. Jin, a partner of the involved silver shop, who stated he had known the shop owner for years. He had ordered 5 kilograms of silver plate material this time, but the shop failed to deliver. Combined with previous offset payments, the shop owner owes him over 27,000 yuan.
Mr. Jin mentioned that silver material supply has been tight recently, but he did not expect the shop owner to collect payments and then "disappear." When he tried calling, the number had been deactivated. On the afternoon of the 14th, many people went to the silver shop to demand an explanation. "I heard the shop has about 200 million yuan worth of plate materials undelivered. The police are already involved, and the shop owner is at the police station."
According to reports, the collapsed entity is a Shuibei silver shop named "Hechengxing."
Multiple affected merchants revealed to reporters that rumors of the owner "fleeing" are untrue; while Mr. Zhou has not run away, he indeed cannot provide the money or goods. On the 14th, the shop could no longer operate normally. More than one merchant who went to the scene disclosed that both the owner and police were present in the shop, with many people queuing to register their claims and order quantities. After reconciliation, the owner would sign a document, but no specific follow-up resolution was agreed upon. One interviewed merchant remarked, "I don't know if this counts as an IOU."
The reporter learned that many affected merchants have already reported the incident to the police, with one维权群 (rights protection group) exceeding 350 members. Based solely on cases the reporter directly learned about, several merchants suffered losses ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan, with some having paid in full. Conservative estimates place the total value involved at over ten million yuan. Besides downstream merchants who placed orders, some upstream suppliers providing silver materials or scrap materials also failed to receive payments.
Tianyancha shows that the involved silver shop was established in 2022, and its legal representative also has a jewelry company registered in Changsha, Hunan.
On the afternoon of the 15th, it was learned from the local sub-district office that the involved silver shop is suspected of being unable to deliver precious metal plate materials, triggering investment disputes. On the 14th, a crowd gathered at the scene. Both the local sub-district and police intervened; the silver shop's responsible person was controlled and taken away by police around 15:40 that day. Currently, the silver shop has suspended operations.
Industry insiders revealed that incidents of "collapse" actually occur occasionally, influenced by changes in precious metal market conditions. The reasons are complex; it could be that material suppliers bet on silver prices falling but didn't anticipate the continuous rise, or it could be due to failure to replenish stock promptly and a lack of mature risk hedging mechanisms. "There's inherently a time lag between suppliers issuing and receiving materials; a sharp price increase in a short period can leave them unprepared."
Behind the "collapse" incident, the overall surge in silver prices has persisted for some time. Throughout the past year 2025, silver's cumulative increase exceeded 147%. Entering 2026, the upward trend continued. On the evening of January 14, spot silver (London Silver) broke through the $92 per ounce mark for the first time in history, reaching a high of $92.2 per ounce.
However, on January 15, silver prices plummeted sharply, at one point falling over 7% during the session. As of the time of writing, the loss had narrowed to 3.42%.
It is worth noting that silver has historically experienced significant declines after major rallies. For instance, in 2011, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange raised silver futures margin requirements five times within just nine days, ultimately leading to a major silver crash where prices fell 30.39% over four trading days. Subsequently, the silver market entered a nearly decade-long period of consolidation.
According to a report, an experienced merchant at the Hangzhou Collectibles Market warned, "From the last wave of silver fever, there are still people who haven't recouped their losses."
"A sharp drop in silver can happen in just one or two days; you won't even have time to sell," said an investor who heavily invested in silver near the end of last year and nearly suffered significant losses. Having bought in at the end of December at a high price of nearly 21 yuan/gram to hoard silver bars, the price acutely fell to within 18 yuan on December 29th. "It's like a roller coaster; those without strong nerves can't handle it."
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