Precious Metals: Falling auto sales will weigh on demand for platinum and palladium – ANZ

The deluge of weak economic data helped spur buying in precious metals, economists at ANZ Bank inform.

Key quotes

“Palladium and platinum prices rose amid ongoing restrictions on miners in South Africa.” 

“While the government is planning to allow mining companies to operate at limited capacity, producers such as Impala Platinum have warned it will take approximately a month to ramp up operations fully.

“Supply-side issues won’t offset the hit to demand due to falling auto sales. We expect world auto sales to plunge by 16–18%y/y in 2020. This will likely weigh on demand for platinum and palladium.”