Ford Motor (F), one of the US Big Three automakers, is confident that US auto sales will spike to 17 million within the next few years.
Citing rising employment and consumer confidence, Ford CEO Alan Mulally told the FT, “‘The trend…[is] sustainable in the near term thanks to the pent-up demand, which is a real turbo-boost for the industry,’ he said, adding that a long-term sales trend would be between 15m-17m vehicles. ‘The average age of a car in the US is 11 years right now.’”
*MetalMiner’s monthly Automotive MMI® comes out today – keep an eye out!
Meanwhile, the biggest mover on the weekly Automotive MMI® was the price of US palladium bar, which saw a 6.5 percent decline. This comes on the heels of a 0.3 percent increase the week before. The price of US platinum bar fell 2.9 percent after rising 1.8 percent the week before. Dropping PGM prices can only be good news for car manufacturers in the longer term.
US HDG traded sideways last week.
The Chinese lead price declined after drifting 1.7 percent since last week. Since last week, the price of the copper 3-month price fell to $7,160 per metric ton on the LME after moving 1.6 percent. With a 1.5 percent decrease on the LME, the primary copper cash price closed the week at $7,125 per metric ton. Following a steady week, prices for Korean 5052 coil premium over 1050 sheet closed flat.
The Automotive MMI® collects and weights 7 metal price points used in automotive production to provide a unique view into automotive metal trends. For more information on the Automotive MMI®, how it’s calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.