Palladium Price Climbs to Two-Month High as China Aims to Clean Air

London (Sept 23)  China’s clean-air drive is giving palladium a boost. The metal, used in pollution-control devices for cars, climbed to the highest in more than two months after China said it will accelerate construction of electric car charging facilities. Premier Li Keqiang announced the plan after almost a dozen Chinese cities made emissions pledges at a two-day climate change summit in Los Angels last week. The auto industry accounts for about three-quarters of demand for palladium, according to Morgan Stanley.

“They want to start doing more electric cars,” Peter Thomas, a senior vice president for metals at Zaner Group LLC in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “If they’re speeding it up, it would make sense for palladium to go up.”

Palladium futures for December delivery jumped as much as 5.4 percent to $644 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since July 16. Prices were at $643.35 at 10:31 a.m. local time. Platinum was little changed on the Nymex.

Gold futures for December delivery rose 0.6 percent to $1,131.30 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Silver also gained.

Gold demand in India may jump as much as 15 percent in the final quarter from a year earlier, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, a director with the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation. That would increase consumption to about 230 metric tons, the highest for the quarter since 2012, World Gold Council data show. India vies with China as the top global consumer.

Assets in exchange-traded products rose 2 tons to 1,515.9 tons, data compiled by Bloomberg as of Tuesday show. Holdings, little changed since early September, reached a six-year low last month.

Source: Bloomberg