Platinum Price Wilts While Palladium Flourishes

London (Nov 21)  After trading at a discount to gold since 2014, the metal that was formerly "rich man's gold" slipped to a discount to the price of another platinum group metal in September 2017.

Palladium remains in a bull market that began in early 2016 when the price found a bottom at $451.50 per ounce. The industrial precious metal with the least liquidity of all of those that trade on the COMEX and NYMEX futures markets has moved steadily higher. In early 2018 the price of palladium reached a record high when it surpassed the previous peak dating back to 2001 at $1090 per ounce. Meanwhile, the price of platinum went in the other direction as it traded to its lowest price in a decade and a half in mid-August as the price fell to a low of $755.70.

Platinum recovered from the low, but its price action has been anything but exciting while palladium continues to soar to new all-time highs. The ascent of palladium could turn out to be the most bullish factor for platinum in the months ahead, but these days the gap between the two metals continues to widen as palladium has been a bullish beast and platinum appears to be fading once again. At the same time, rhodium is a byproduct of platinum production, and its price is flying high.

The most direct route for trading or investment in the platinum market is via the physical bars and coins offered by dealers around the world or the NYMEX futures market. The Aberdeen Standard Physical Platinum Shares ETF (PPLT) or the GraniteShares Platinum Trust (PLTM) are two products that provide alternatives for market participants who do not trade futures or wish to hold then metal.

Higher lows in platinum since August

The low in platinum this past August was ugly at a fifteen-year low, but it has all the hallmarks of a blow-off to the downside.

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