Last Friday’s Federal Reserve meeting is hardly in the media today; why? Jerome Powell followed the market’s general assessments and urged caution regarding further tightening monetary policy, although he did not rule it out. This means that other economic data will have to wait. The market already reacted to this in advance: gold and silver celebrated their comeback in the short term and are now trading above $ 1,900/oz again, as well as silver above $ 24/oz, despite the firmer $. Silver made up some ground in the common ratio, which currently stands at 79.
Platinum also made up ground and rose in the shadow of gold and silver by about 4.5% on a weekly basis. A possible platinum deficit in the market was already predicted in the spring. It remains to be noted that platinum seems well protected at the lower end at $900/oz, upwards the 200-day line at $991/oz, and the psychological mark at $1,000/oz remains the target. In addition, all metals are influenced by the strength of the US$, especially in the local currency area, as international trade is also in US$. The weaker EUR thus makes the metals more expensive in EUR terms.
Rhodium initially appeared to be in good demand after the summer break. The significantly lower prices compared with the beginning of the year bring Rh back into some application areas, such as electroplating. Whether this demand can continue remains to be seen. In addition, we would like to refer to our assessment of iridium in an article in the Handelsblatt: Electrolysis: Iridium Shortage Could Slow Hydrogen Expansion (paywall):
“Iridium Shortage Could Slow Hydrogen Expansion” Handelsblatt, Aug. 28, 2023.
“Because of the small deposits, it doesn’t pay to mine iridium exclusively in the mines.” Nor has it been necessary so far: “It’s a balanced market.” But that could now change. Götzl-Mamba expects “a significant iridium deficit” from 2024. [Translation preview.rohstoff.net/]
“PGM – Spotlight on Precious Metals” is a commodity column focused on gold and precious metals but mainly dedicated to the widely discussed yet rarely analyzed platinum group metals (PGM). Focused on the industrial applications of the metals as well as their potential as tangible assets, the abbreviation PGM has a twofold significance: With Philipp Götzl-Mamba, we could win an experienced precious metal trader operating at the cutting edge of the industry, sharing his knowledge with us.
