The consistent strength of the US Dollar, boosted by the ongoing US/China/EU trade dispute, has decreased the value of platinum and the demand for the precious metal. The price of platinum dropped last week to a 10-year low of $811.10 / £613 an ounce.
Prices have bounced back slightly but losses in the UK are still just shy of 3% in the past week, while in the United States the price drop is just over 2.5%. Over the past month the price of platinum per ounce has decreased by £42.95 / $66.46.
The last major drop in price was in December 2008, with an ounce of platinum hitting $804, but the latest drops are indicative of lessening interest across most commodities. Palladium, Gold, and Silver are all down – again due to the strong Dollar and the trade war – but for platinum there’s another problem: the automotive industry.
Platinum was hurt by a decline in diesel car demand in recent years following the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Since then, diesel cars suffered in ignominy as petrol and hybrids outperformed, but now the latest changes to pollution rules mean that the classic catalytic converters are being replaced with new versions that tackle more than just carbon dioxide.
The Thomson Reuters GFMS ‘Platinum Group Metals Survey 2018’ cites strong mining figures and autocatalyst recycling as a positive for platinum and predicts a price rise in the second half of 2018 that will put platinum over $1,000 per ounce.
