Platinum Price Outlook – November 2023

“Platinum prices rose alongside gold and silver prices during October. A resolution to the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike on 30 October gave platinum prices another boost. On 31 October, platinum prices reached an intraday high of $951.80, which was the highest level that prices had reached since 20 September 2023 following which started the nearly three-week decline in precious metals prices.

After the initial positive reaction to the end of the UAW strike, platinum prices had largely been moving sideways at relatively elevated levels. But this strength was short lived, with platinum prices falling sharply since, settling below $880, which has been a historically important sup- port level, at the time of writing this report. Weakness in prices could continue in the short term, with $850 and even $830 possible targets in the near term. Declines to these levels are likely to be short lived, with the ongoing phase of the partial substitution of palladium with platinum in gasoline autocatalysts coupled with a seasonally strong period for prices providing some support to platinum in the coming months.

Commercial vehicle demand remained healthy across major auto markets. But a lot of the strength in year-on-year sales can be attributed to weakness in these markets during 2022. This helps to explain why platinum prices have not risen more strongly in response to such strong growth in the commercial vehicle market, which is one of the largest users of the metal.

Another factor that is expected to negatively impact platinum demand and prices is the ongoing increase in battery electric vehicle demand. So, while there are fundamental and seasonal factors that could provide support to prices there are negative factors as well that are expected to act as a headwind to platinum prices in coming months.”