Platinum Group Metals Price Bulletin - 5th December 2011 to 9th December 2011

Johnson Matthey London Base Prices at 0800 hrs, $/oz:

	Pt	Pd	Rh
Monday 5th December	1549	651	1625
Tuesday 6th December	1517	638	1600
Wednesday 7th December	1537	690	1575
Thursday 8th December	1520	680	1550
Friday 9th December	1492	665	1550

Anticipation of an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB) helped risk assets to rally mid-week, benefitting platinum and especially palladium. Following the rate drop, commodities weakened as disappointed investors digested the consequences of an announcement by the ECB that it would not engage in aggressive buying of sovereign debt. Early on Friday it emerged that EU leaders had failed to reach agreement on a change in the EU treaty to tighten their fiscal coordination, leading the platinum price to slump below $1,500, for the first time in over a month, in the morning fix.

Platinum

Platinum’s price reached a 26-year low versus gold as platinum came under renewed pressure as investor sentiment declined and the prospects for a solution to the eurozone debt crisis, which is seen as dragging on demand, seemed as far away as ever. Decent physical demand from Asia helped platinum rebound from the dips.

Palladium

Palladium was the star performer of the pgm complex this week, reaching a three-month high of $690 on the 7th. The price was underpinned by a robust outlook for autocatalyst demand following last month’s jump in US vehicle sales as well as concerns about future levels of supply from Russian state stockpiles.

Rhodium

Rhodium’s price came under selling pressure this week and lost $75 to reach a new Johnson Matthey Base Price of $1,550. A little buying interest from the Far East helped the price to stabilise. Iridium was unchanged at $1,085 while ruthenium lost $10 to reach $110.

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