Palladium, Not Gold, is the Hottest Precious Metal

If you’ve been near a metals and mining conference or forum over the last few months, all you’ve heard about recently is gold. Explorers, developers, and investors have been focusing on the staple metal (and silver alongside it) and with good reason.

But as impressive as the rise of gold prices has been, a different precious metal has outperformed the others relatively unnoticed. That’s starting to change, however, as the impressive rise of palladium has caught a lot of eyes in the investment world.

While the global economy has focused on the currency implications of the US-China trade war and driving gold prices, the platinum-group metal has been having its own run. Last week, palladium prices hit an all-time high of US $1,621.55 per ounce. A year ago, it was at US $987.25.

What do investors need to know about the precious metal? For starts, demand isn’t going away anytime soon. According to analysis from GFMS, Refinitiv, the ~10 million ounce-a-year palladium market has a deficit of 1.8 million ounces this year, and it’s only set to grow.


(Palladium’s price increase over the past year)

One of the primary uses for the metal is in the automobile industry for reducing harmful emissions in vehicle exhausts. As regulations and standards on emissions have become more restrictive, demand for palladium (and platinum alongside it) have continued to rise.

Another driver of interest in the precious metal has been political. Currently the biggest suppliers of palladium are South Africa and Russia, with Canada and the US placing a distant 4th and 5th.

As global tensions have been causing countries to re-evaluate their reliance on partners for business, most notably for the US shifting focus away from China for rare earth elements, new opportunities for in-demand metals are at a premium. In the case of Russia, restricted supply and a poor track record on emissions is encouraging for North American sources of palladium like Generation Mining Ltd. (CSE:GENM) and New Age Metals Inc. (TSX-V:NAM).

The secret of palladium’s rise and potential won’t be kept from the market at large for much longer. While attention is focused on other metals, investors have the opportunity to scout out the palladium market ahead of everyone else.


FULL DISCLOSURE: Generation Mining Ltd. and New Age Metals Inc. are clients of Stockhouse Publishing.