This Morning in Metals: Platinum Rebound Imminent, Says Northam CEO
This morning in metals news, the CEO of Northam Platinum indicated the platinum price is due for upward movement, raw steel production in the U.S. last week was up significantly and Chinese aluminum production was down during October.
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Platinum on the Rise?
As we’ve noted here in recent weeks, palladium has outdone platinum of late — normally, it’s the other way around.
But according to Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne, platinum should be on its way back up.
“We have said for a number of years from various public platforms that you would see a phased recovery with palladium running first, then rhodium, and finally platinum,” Dunne said in a report by Mining MX. “Palladium has been off to the races over the past year and the rhodium price has now started to move in recent months rising around 50%.”
Raw Steel Production Up
According to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), U.S. raw steel production was up 9.3% for the week ending Nov. 11 compared with the same week last year.
Domestic raw steel production was 1,739,000 net tons for that week, with a capability utilization rate of 74.6%.
Production for the week ending Nov. 11 was up 1.4% from the previous week, when production was 1,715,000 net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 73.6 percent.
Chinese Aluminum Production Drops in October
Primary aluminum production in China fell 2.3% in October from the previous month, according to a Reuters report citing government data.
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According to the report, factors contributing to the drop include high costs and the closure of illegal capacity.
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