Palladium rallies strongly

Often in gold and silver’s shadow, palladium has been the best performing precious metal for the last few years and has now reached a 2.5 year high on the back of rising fears of Russian supplies and now the announcement of 2 new ETF’s, both based in South Africa.  South Africa produces about 75% of the world’s palladium, with Russia most of the remainder.  South African production has been on hold for some weeks now due to still unresolved strike action.  It has enjoyed strength for some time now as it is a key component of catalytic converters for the automotive industry which itself has been growing post GFC.  This latest price rally is on the expectations of growing investment demand via the new metal backed ETF’s, on top of already stretched supply for industrial demand.