Silver Price To Head Higher As Cost of Production Forms A Base
If we look at the table below, we can see the total three-quarters of financial metrics from my top 12 primary silver miners.
By adding up all the figures, we can see some interesting data points. For example, the top 12 primary silver miners recorded a combined $2.36 billion in total revenue for Q1-Q3, while their adjusted income amounted to only $1.4 million.
Thus, the average realized price received by the top 12 silver miners for the first nine months of 2013, was $24.58. Their estimated silver break-even turns out to be one cent less at $24.57.
Even though this is the average for the first three-quarters of the year, the group was able to lower their break-even to $21.39 in Q3. I don’t believe the break-even will be much less (and probably higher) due to the fact that the group sold 1.4 million more silver in Q3 than they produced.
Furthermore, the group produced 68.8 million oz of silver for the first nine months of 2013 while they sold 69.7 million oz. I highly doubt they will continue to sell more silver than they are producing for the next several quarters.
It is quite amazing to see that these 12 primary silver miners had $2.36 billion in revenue during the first nine months of 2013 while only showing $1.4 million of adjusted income. The power of the FED is mighty indeed. The net income of a negative $554 million for the Q1-Q3 was due to the huge write-downs during the second quarter.