Although MetalMiner’s monthly Global Precious Metals MMI® hit a value of 97 in August, dropping a point from July, Palladium prices are showing no signs of slowing down.
Platinum and Palladium Upsides
Palladium recently reached an all-time high, as our lead forecasting analyst Raul de Frutos wrote recently, and he thinks the metal can potentially rise much higher. Here he speaks to how the commonalities between platinum and palladium could manifest down the line:
The picture for palladium is bullish. Meanwhile, platinum is lagging but finally showing some strength after recently hitting a 10-month high. The fundamental picture looks tight for both metals and platinum likely won’t be left behind if palladium continues its way up.
There’s another wild card in the PGM sphere, as just yesterday, MetalMiner covered the impending platinum and palladium fixes on the horizon:
The London Platinum & Palladium Fixing Company Ltd. will “shortly” start a request-for-proposals exercise for firms interested in assuming responsibility for the procedure that takes place each business day at 9:45 a.m. and 2 p.m. by phone, it said July 31st in a statement. BASF Metals Ltd., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Bank Plc currently run the gold fix.
This should change the landscape slightly for the price-setting process that is also being changed in gold and silver markets, although what effect it will have on global price trends for PGMs remains to be seen.
Where are Gold and Silver Prices Going?
Naturally, macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have had an effect on gold prices, as tensions in Ukraine are still running high – Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops just on the other side of their border with Ukraine, leading the West to believe that Putin could order a highly effective and broad-reaching strike at a moment’s notice.
Key Price Drivers
The price of Japanese palladium bar rose 7.1 percent over the past month to $28.75 per gram. The price of US palladium bar closed the month up 3.6 percent at $870.00 per ounce. For the second month in a row, the price of Chinese palladium bar increased, rising 2.7 percent over the past month to $31.26 per gram. At $742.46 per kilogram, the price of Indian silver increased 2.0 percent. The price of Japanese platinum bar rose 0.6 percent over the past month to $47.48 per gram, the second straight month of gains.
A 3.5 percent drop over the past month left US gold bullion at $1,281 per ounce. The price of Chinese gold bullion closed the month at $41.35 per gram after dropping 3.4 percent. US silver closed the month at $20.38 per ounce after dropping 2.8 percent. Chinese platinum bar prices decreased by 1.9 percent this month, ending at $50.05 per gram. Last month, US platinum bar prices dropped by 1.8 percent to $1,456 per ounce. The value of Japanese gold bullion weakened by 1.3 percent this month, settling at $41.57 per gram. Japanese silver fell a slight 0.9 percent over the past month to $6.59 per 10 grams. The price of Chinese silver drifted 0.2 percent lower to $696.51 per kilogram. Indian gold bullion fell 0.2 percent to $458.39 per 10 grams.
The Global Precious Metals MMI® collects and weights 14 global precious metal price points to provide a unique view into precious metal price trends over a 30-day period. For more information on the Global Precious Metals MMI®, how it’s calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.
by Taras Berezowsky