Tag - PGMs

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Tuesday, March 31 2020

Top platinum miners declare force majeure after coronavirus lockdown

South Africa, which accounts for around 70% of mined platinum supply, called the shutdown last week to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

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Wednesday, March 25 2020

Palladium, platinum soar on S. Africa lockdown; gold rallies

Palladium and platinum prices surged on Tuesday, with palladium on track for its biggest daily gain since 2001 as major producer South Africa was locked down due to the coronavirus, while gold soared over 5% as fresh stimulus stopped liquidation among investors.

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Tuesday, December 17 2019

South African PGM supply short-circuits under Eskom

South African PGM supply was reduced by 50% as producers suspended operations.

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Thursday, September 12 2019

PGMs Margin Bonds Raised

Palladium & Platinum margins increased.

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Thursday, April 12 2018

Platinum is cheap – but will it ever get expensive again?

The last time we were in this “buy zone” was the late 1990s, when platinum was $350. It rose over 700% over the next decade.

Is $900 the new $350? A 700% rise from $900 would be very welcome chez Frisby.

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Monday, June 12 2017

Palladium Pandemonium - Short Squeeze Sends Precious Metal Spreads Parabolic

Palladium has been gaining versus platinum for the past year. Why do we care about this spread? Well, palladium and platinum’s main use is in the fabrication of catalytic converters for automobiles.

Palladium is mainly used in gasoline engines, while platinum plays a larger role in diesel cars. The Volkswagen emissions scandal effectively killed diesel’s future in passenger vehicles, so maybe this palladium outperformance can be explained by the dramatic switch from diesel to gasoline.

Combine this extra demand with the fact that palladium is a small market that was already suffering from challenging global supply, you had the recipe for a squeeze.

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Futures - Cotango or Backwardation

Palladium in backwardation - Platinum is in normal contango.

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Tuesday, May 16 2017

Platinum to see first market surplus in six years in 2017

The platinum market is set to record its first surplus in six years in 2017, Johnson Matthey said on Monday, as a drop in demand from the vehicle industry, jewelers and investors outstrips a smaller fall in supply.

But the deficit in palladium is expected to widen to 792,000 ounces in 2017 from 163,000 ounces this year, the company said.

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Wednesday, May 10 2017

Palladium set to overtake platinum

The palladium price is poised to exceed the platinum price for the first time since 2001, Thomson Reuters said on Tuesday with the publication of its GFMS Platinum Group Metals Survey 2017.

The price gap between platinum and palladium – which averaged just over $1 000/oz between 2007 and 2012 – is now at about $100/oz.

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Sunday, March 26 2017

New Electrocatalyst Uses 99% Less Platinum Than Conventional Designs

Platinum is used as the catalyst in electrolysers that store electric energy as chemical compounds, and it also plays an important role in fuel cells, catalytic converters and many chemical processes used in industry.

A group of Aalto University researchers led by professors Tanja Kallio and Kari Laasonen has developed a manufacturing method for electrocatalysts that only uses one hundredth of the amount of platinum generally used in commercial products. Platinum is a very expensive metal and it is therefore one of the bottlenecks hindering the growth of renewable energy.

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Saturday, March 18 2017

Russia's Nornickel says its fund buys palladium from central bank

A fund created by Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) buys palladium from Russia's central bank reserves to help meet demand from its customers, the world's largest producer of the metal said on Thursday.

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Wednesday, December 7 2016

Palladium Market Is Expected to Witness Highest Growth During 2015 to 2021

The global market for palladium is likely to experience significant growth with declining demand for metals and increasing demand for recycling metals, leading to palladium demand outstripping the supply.

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Tuesday, November 15 2016

Platinum market may see first surplus in six years in 2017

The platinum market could return to surplus for the first time in six years in 2017 as lower autocatalyst loadings and weakness in Chinese jewelry buying pull demand lower, refiner Johnson Matthey said in a report on Monday.

Mine supply is expected to be flat next year, but supply of recycled metal from autocatalysts has the potential to rebound, it said.

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Friday, October 14 2016

Platinum In Bear Market as Rates, Electric Cars Dent Outlook

Platinum is trading in a bear market amid prospects for higher U.S. interest rates and speculation that demand will slip for the metal used in auto pollution-control devices.

Investors have soured on platinum, used in catalytic converters that help limit pollution from diesel vehicles, as automakers introduce more electric cars and diesel loses popularity in the wake of Volkswagen AG’s emissions-cheating scandal. A strengthening dollar and the outlook for higher U.S. rates have hurt demand for precious metals as stores of value.

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Saturday, October 1 2016

Investors shy away from platinum as concern over inventories persists

Investors bruised by platinum's dismal failure to capitalize on a five-month strike in 2014 are not convinced that stocks of the metal have shrunk enough to justify a return to the market, despite positive supply-side news this year.

Uncertainty over how abundant these stocks are is continuing to curb investment interest in the metal, with holdings of platinum-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) falling to their lowest since mid 2013 this month.

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Saturday, September 17 2016

Platinum Market Peters Out in Longest Losing Streak in 3 Years

Investors are losing interest as the popularity of electric cars, which use less platinum and palladium than gasoline-fueled vehicles, threatens demand for the metals used in auto pollution-control devices, according to John Meyer, an analyst at SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP. The strengthening dollar also weighed on prices.

“Demand is in question,” James Cordier, the founder of Optionsellers.com in Tampa, Florida, said in a telephone interview. “The dollar has been a weight on gold and precious metals, and without any industrial demand for platinum, that’s double trouble.”

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Monday, August 29 2016

Structural supply deficit coming in platinum

Northam Platinum’s CEO, Paul Dunne, is convinced the world will begin to see the nature of the structural deficit looming in platinum as a result of diminishing primary supply from southern Africa, a situation that will present itself with rapidly adjusting prices.

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Thursday, July 28 2016

Platinum Takes Limelight From Gold With Best Month in Four Years

A surprise rally in gold and silver caught the eyes of investors in the first half of the year. Now, platinum and palladium are shining brighter.

Platinum is up 11 percent in July, putting prices on track for the best month since 2012. Palladium is even better, jumping 17 percent, the most since 2008. By comparison, gold added less than 2 percent in July as it lost momentum after gains in the first half.

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Wednesday, June 15 2016

Platinum - This Precious Metal Just Hit A Multi-Decade Extreme

This year platinum traded at its deepest discount to gold since 1982. The platinum:gold ratio currently comes in at 0.8:1, meaning an ounce of platinum sells for 80% of what an ounce of gold commands.

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Thursday, June 2 2016

Platinum, Palladium Sag After U.S. Car Sales, China Factory Data

Palladium fell and platinum posted its sixth loss in seven sessions as a drop in U.S. vehicle sales and sluggish Chinese manufacturing added to demand concerns on the metals, used in auto pollution-control devices.

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