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Continuing bad news from auto manufacturers saw spot palladium hit $356 an ounce, a seven month low on Friday, before recovering $11 to finish at $363.50/371.50 by the New York close.

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With auto manufacturers accounting for 50% of annual platinum production, last weeks dismal news from car makers saw spot platinum at Fridays New York close down to $1656.50 an ounce after trading down to $1629 during the session.

General Motors announced a second quarter loss of over $15 billion, BMW issued a profit warning and Nissan fell short of its quarterly forecasts.

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Followers of our weekly review roundups may recall the reservations we wrote of concerning the price of PGMs and platinum in particular. The point we were making was simply that while we were bullish of gold and silver, we had concerns for PGMs in a world where industrial activity was likely to slow.

Today we note that car manufacturers in the US are likely to experience sales declining to a fifteen year low and one major Japanese manufacturer has already announced that it is cutting its 2008 sales target by 350,000 units.

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Investors with the patience should look at the long-term outlook for Palladium

It has been reported that if Russia continues to sell off its stockpile of the metal at the present rate it will be depleted within five years.

Last year Russia, which accounts for about 40% of world annual production of around 8.6 million ounces, sold off 1.49 million ounces, double that of 2006. 

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Yesterday saw another good day for PGMs with Platinum hitting an all time high at $1965 an ounce and rhodium up $450 in London to record breaking $8525 an ounce, up by nearly 25% this year already after a meteoric rise of 23 % in 2007.

Rhodium is a by product of platinum production.

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With hydrogen a leading contender for green fuel of the future, nanotechnologists have discovered that carbon nano-tubes (CNTs) are likely to be used as either catalysts or catalyst additives.

the CNTs are loaded with nano-particles of Rhodium a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases can be converted into ethanol. Another small step on the path away from fossil fuel dependency.

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Only osmium of all the precious metals has failed to find significant new uses in industry.

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87% of rhodium mining production in 2006 was used by the automotive industry in catalytic converters.

Platinum, also used as a catalyst in emission converters, can be substituted with palladium, except in diesel engines, whereas the unique properties of rhodium allow for no substitute.

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This a question that has been posed as a result of the most recent posting about Precious Metals. The answer may address some of the points to consider before taking the plunge into the Platinum Group of Precious Metals.

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Things are shaping up well for investors in the Platinum Group of Metals (PGMs).

Just to recap the group consists of Palladium, Rhodium, Iridium, Ruthenium, and Osmium as well as Platinum

Their principal use is as catalysts, that is that they allow or increase the efficiency of chemical processes.

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