Platinum Group Metals Price Bulletin - 21st July 2008 to 25th July 2008

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

	Pt	Pd	Rh
Monday 21st July	1865	421	9550
Tuesday 22nd July	1880	424	9475
Wednesday 23rd July	1804	396	9450
Thursday 24th July	1739	390	9350
Friday 25th July	1744	394	9250

Platinum

A 50K oz sell off in platinum ETFs contributed to last weeks decline in prices but, at the start of this week, sentiment reversed on higher oil prices and news that Escom had shut down an electricity generating unit at one of its nuclear power plants for repair. Oil’s fortunes improved on Iran’s unresponsiveness to UN demands to halt its nuclear research program and the approach of Hurricane Dolly, threatening oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The latter turned out to be a bit of a damp squib and oil fell, dragging other commodities with it, in the face of a strengthening dollar. Platinum plummeted again as further liquidation of ETF holdings drove prices into the low $1700’s - investors reacting to the bad sales reports out of the automotive industry. On Friday platinum appeared to have bottomed as a dramatic fall in equities in the USA brought a halt to a three day rally in the dollar and oil and gold pegged up a notch.

Palladium

Tracking other precious metals down, palladium dropped into the high 300’s but ETF activity was reportedly fairly muted compared to platinum.

Rhodium

Market offers continue to dominate as rhodium continued its move back toward the $9,000 level – perhaps $10,000 was a bit too ambitious.

Johnson Matthey,
Orchard Road,
Royston,
Hertfordshire SG8 5HE,
United Kingdom