The cost of silver is just one factor. All lot of things go into making printing paper, including labor, facilities overhead, and distribution cost too. Given the current unpredictability of things, I can't say anything optimistic, unless dealers are simply going to use a particularly popular item as a "loss leader", and sell it at or below their own price. But that raises the hackles of other dealers and might get them in trouble with Ilford too.
But will there be a tipping point, a doomsday scenario, when large film and paper just becomes so unaffordable to most that the diminishing levels of sales can no longer support the industry itself? That's what worries me, with all the uncertainty these days over reckless arbitrary tariffs and so forth; sometimes that can be the straw which breaks the camel's back.
Back in the 70's or so there was the attempt of just two people, namely the Hunt brothers, to totally monopolize the silver commodity market, which temporarily drove many photographers away from printing completely. The paper just got too expensive. These cycles come and go; but there are less manufacturers now of what we need, and it would be dire to see any of them fail.
It's getting even worse with building materials. Everyone demands cheaper housing; but everything at play tells us that is simply not going to be the case. We have our own "sheet goods" inflation issues : matboard, acrylic glazing etc. The price hike of that is jus as bad as printing paper. Am I going to end up contact printing, when I can no longer afford enlarging. I hope not, although contact prints can be beautiful in their own right.