The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) said global automakers are intensifying their efforts to reduce the use of palladium and increase the use of platinum in their cars due to the situation around Russia.
Russia accounts for about 25-30% of world supplies of palladium and about 8-10% of platinum. At the moment, there are no signs that the Russian Federation is going to limit the export of palladium, but there are fears that companies may boycott the Russian metal, and governments may impose restrictions on its purchase. Therefore, according to WPIC head of research Trevor Raymond, efforts to replace palladium have skyrocketed amid concerns about its availability.
However, there is a second point, which amid continuously rising prices cannot be ignored: platinum is cheaper than palladium. At around $950 an ounce (28.3 grams), platinum is about half the price of palladium. Automakers, on the other hand, require about 2.5-3 million ounces of platinum and about 8.5 million ounces of palladium annually.
In the automotive industry, palladium is used together with platinum in catalytic converters. Palladium finds more use in gasoline engines, while platinum in diesel engines.
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