Palladium

Platinum to remain in surplus, palladium to move to deficit in 2012 – Johnson Matthey

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By Geoff Candy

GEOFF CANDY: I am joined now by Dr. Jonathan Butler, he is the publications manager at Johnson Matthey and they have just released their Platinum Survey 2012. In 2011,total demand for platinum rose 2% while supply rose to a four-year high, up 7% in total. What were there drivers behind those two moves? Read more

Palladium, Nickel Seen Gaining From China Consumption Shift

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By Glenys Sim

Aluminum, nickel, palladium and gold may benefit from China’s shift toward consumption-driven growth from an economy fueled by investment, while agricultural products are set to lag behind, according to Barclays Capital.

Commodities with so-called strong links to rising living standards and changing tastes such as coffee stand to gain from the transformation, analysts led by Kevin Norrish wrote in a report dated yesterday. The growth in demand for steel, copper and zinc may slow as their intensity of use drops, they said. Read more

With global economic upheaval, an historic rise in precious metals. A conversation with CPM Group’s Jeffrey Christian

Exclusive to resourceINTELLIGENCE

Jeffrey M. Christian is the Managing Director and founder of CPM Group. Under his direction the company has become one of the world’s foremost authorities on the markets for precious and other metals, foreign exchange markets and commodities derivatives. Jeff has written and spoken extensively about precious metals and commodities markets, as well as world financial and economic conditions. He has been involved in much of the pioneering work applying economic analysis and econometrics to commodities markets, as well as efforts to improve the quality of commodities market research. Mr. Christian created CPM Group in June 1986, when he and his associates within the Commodities Research Group in the Goldman, Sachs Investment Research Department left that company as a unit to set up an independent research company.

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South Africa’s PGM production plummets

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By Peter Koven

South Africa produces three quarters of the world’s platinum, and is also the second largest producer of palladium (known together as the platinum group metals, or PGMs). So production fluctuations in the African nation can have an enormous impact on global supply.

That seems to be happening right now. Read more

Copper, palladium up on hopes for growth

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Copper (HG-FT  3.45  0.04  1.11%) and palladium (PA-FT  660.90  6.50  0.99%) prices are rising on hopes that economic growth in the United States is gaining steam.

Copper for March delivery rose 2.1 cents Thursday to $3.4155 (U.S.) per pound. March palladium rose $20.30, or 3.2 per cent, to $654.40 an ounce Read more

Positive prognostications on palladium prices

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By  Lawrence Williams

In his introduction to a presentation for palladium and gold miner/developer, North American Palladium, at the Denver Gold Forum, company CEO William Biggar put forward his views on his confidence in the likely strong performance of palladium in the years ahead.

As the key to his viewpoint, Biggar pointed to statistics showing that mine supply from the two major producers, South Africa and Russia, is flat at Read more

Palladium Hits Highest Level Since February; Platinum Also Rises

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By Allen Sykora

Palladium rose sharply and platinum also posted solid gains Tuesday, with analysts citing worries about a coal strike in South Africa ultimately cutting power to mines.

Additionally, traders cited worries about potential work stoppages at metals-mining companies themselves, as well as a weaker U.S. dollar and an improved outlook for the automobile industry. Read more

CPM Group: Chinese Palladium, Rhodium Demand Up In 2010; Platinum Demand Falls

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By Allen Sykora

China’s fabrication demand for palladium and rhodium rose in 2010 due to auto and other industrial uses, while platinum demand fell because of lower jewelry consumption, CPM Group said in its Platinum Group Metals Yearbook 2011 released Tuesday.

China has become one of the world’s biggest consumers of a wide range of commodities, and the consultancy has been expanding coverage of the country in all of the precious-metals yearbooks it produces. Read more

Gokhran may have enough palladium for exports in 2012, but what of 2013?

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By Rhona O’Connell

A Russian Finance Ministry official has reportedly said that the State repository has sufficient palladium stocks to continue to export in 2012, while it is also looking to upgrade some of its existing material (Gokhran has sufficient palladium to continue exports in 2012 – report).

In their authoritative reviews released last month, both Johnson Matthey and GFMS addressed this issue and the two houses are of similar views with respect to the outlook on this issue.  JM and GFMS employ different methodologies in their analyses of the PGM markets and how they present the market balance.  Read more

Palladium Rising as BMW Becomes Catalyst for Biggest Shortage in 32 Years

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By Nicholas Larkin and Maria Kolesnikova

Palladium’s biggest shortage in three decades means this year’s worst-performing precious metal may rebound as growth spurs record car sales and prompts Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) to say the commodities bull market is intact.

The 1.6 million-ounce deficit seen by Standard Bank Plc explains why prices for the metal used in catalytic converters will rise 24 percent by Dec. 31, based on the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 24 analysts and traders. Read more

Russia’s Gokhran to export palladium in ’12 -agency

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By Alfred Kueppers

Russia’s Gokhran state repository has sufficient palladium stocks to continue exports in 2012, and it also plans to melt down some reserves to improve their quality, a Finance Ministry official told Interfax.

“In 2012 there will still be (exports),” the source said on Monday. “There are enough reserves for 2012. Beyond that, we’ll see.” Read more

Johnson Matthey: Record Demand Pushes Palladium Market Into Deficit In 2010

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By Allen Sykora

Global palladium demand hit a record high in 2010, enabling the market to post its first supply/demand deficit in a decade, Johnson Matthey reported Monday.

Palladium use last year rose 23% in 2010 to 9.63 million ounces, leaving the market in a deficit of 490,000 ounces, Johnson Matthey said in its “2011 Platinum” report. By contrast, the market had been in a surplus of 680,000 ounces in 2009. Read more