Mexican Media Brands
Palladium Prices Surge to 18-Year High
The price of palladium, a metal used in automotive catalytic converters, has topped $1,000 per ounce for the first time since 2001.
#economics
Share
The price of palladium, a metal used in automotive catalytic converters, has topped $1,000 per ounce for the first time since 2001.
The metal surpassed the price of platinum, also used in catalytic converters, last month, Bloomberg News points out. Both metals are found and mined together. The materials are used to accelerate chemical reactions that convert exhaust pollutants into benign gases.
Platinum, currently at about $944 per ounce, is favored for converters used in diesel engines. But slumping demand for diesels could cut demand for the metal by 300,000-600,000 ounces over the next 10 years, Citigroup Inc. estimates.
The bank predicts a glut of platinum will continue to at least 2020. Over the same period, supplies of palladium are likely to fall short of demand by 1 million ounces in 2018 before recovering to a 750,000-ounce shortfall in 2020.
Carmakers periodically adjust the blend of platinum and palladium used in their catalytic converters as the price of each metal rises or falls. Analysts point out that a persistence price spread between the two materials would likely prompt just such a reformulation.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Mazda, CARB and PSA North America: Car Talk
The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Management Briefing Seminars, an annual event, was held last week in Traverse City, Michigan.
-
Report Forecasts Huge Economic Upside for Self-Driving EVs
Widespread adoption of autonomous electric vehicles could provide $800 billion in annual social and economic benefits in the U.S. by 2050, according to a new report.
-
China and U.S. OEMs
When Ford announced its 3rd quarter earning on October 24, the official announcement said, in part, “Company revenue was up 3 percent year over year, with net income and company adjusted EBIT both down year over year, primarily driven by continued challenges in China.” The previous day, perhaps as a preemptive move to answer the question “If things are going poorly in China, what are you doing about it?, Ford announced that it was establishing Ford China as a stand-alone business unit.