LONDON (BLOOMBERG) – It is five times more costly than gold and shocked investors by reaching US$8,200 per ounce last week.
Rhodium – mainly used in autocatalysts for cars and five times more costly than gold – surged 32 per cent already this month and 225 per cent year on year, touching the highest since 2008. Stricter emissions rules have fuelled a multi-year rally and there’s speculation that investors are also jumping in, betting that prices will climb towards a record.
Rhodium rallied 12-fold in the past four years, far outperforming all major commodities, on rising demand from the car sector. This rise is mainly owing to manufacturers having to use greater metal loadings per car to meet tightening automotive emission standards in many regions.
Like palladium, the metal is mined as a byproduct of platinum and nickel, but it is a much smaller market and so is liable to big price moves when supply or demand changes.
“Rhodium is subject to crazy volatility,” said Anton Berlin, head of analysis and market development at Russia’s MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, which mines about 10 per cent of all rhodium. Supplies are tight and speculators stepped up buying the metal after large industrial users secured volumes late last year, he said.
PRICE SURGE
Rhodium was at US$7,975 an ounce on Friday (Jan 10), according to Johnson Matthey. This month’s gain also came after investors turned to precious metals, seeking a haven from Middle East tensions and pushing palladium up about 9 per cent.
“The main driver by the beginning of January was physical demand from Asia, which might be also automotive related,” said Andreas Daniel, a trader at refiner Heraeus Holding GmbH. “Buying triggered more buying and in an unregulated market the effect was massive, with a price move which is only seen maybe every 10 years.”
Although pullbacks are possible this year, rhodium could top the record US$10,100 set in 2008, according to Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at refiner MKS PAMP Group in Switzerland. Still, those lofty prices a decade ago prompted autocatalyst makers to switch to platinum and palladium, which are also used for cleaning emissions.
