The diesel vehicle is dying, and it’s taking the platinum industry down with it.
The price of New York platinum futures plunged more than five percent on Monday to touch $811.10 an ounce--a level it last touched in July 2004. Prices have recovered somewhat to trade at $841.80 on Wednesday 11 am ET but still facing heavy short- and long-term selling pressure after the price action broke the 10-day, 20-day,50-day, 100-day and 200-day moving averages.
Prices are now 20 percent below their January high.
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Source: MacroTrends
Platinum is trading at a huge discount to its sister metal palladium, the second member of the platinum group metals (PGM). The platinum/palladium price ratio is now just a little above its record lows. The two precious-metal workhorses find applications mainly in the internal combustion engine (ICE), with platinum being the preferred emission scrubber for diesel engines while palladium does the same job for gasoline engines. More than 40 percent of platinum supply goes to the autocatalyst market....MUCH MORE
