Platinum and palladium surge violently, spot consumption remains sluggish [SMM Daily Review]

On August 4, NYMEX platinum and palladium posted their largest single-day rally since February. Platinum closed at $1,746.8/oz (+7.41%), while palladium settled at $1,350.5/oz (+7.47%). U.S. Section 232 tariff expansion lifted PGMs’ tail-risk premium. The Commerce Department proposed extending tariff controls to 14 metal downstream products. Although PGMs were not covered, the policy tightening boosted market risk concerns.The 180-day negotiation window for the PGM-related Section 232 probe expired on July 13. Unresolved policy uncertainties raised expectations of potential U.S. import restrictions on Pt and Pd. Geopolitically, the expected US-Iran deal to reopen of Hormuz pressured crude prices lower. Cooling inflation eased Fed rate hike bets, providing support for precious metals.

Norilsk Nickel reported production cuts in its Q2 report, with platinum production at 145,000 oz (up 7% QoQ, down 6.5% YoY) and palladium production at 590,000 oz (down 3% QoQ, down 10.3% YoY). The divergence was mainly due to changes in the ore feed composition and the platinum-to-palladium ratio.

[SMM Flash] An international research team led by the JU Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology in Poland, in collaboration with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and global research partners, has uncovered how ruthenium- and osmium-based organometallic compounds selectively recognise chromatin. Published in Nucleic Acids Research, the study shows that subtle changes to the metal centre and surrounding ligands determine how these compounds bind to nucleosomes, the fundamental units of chromatin. The researchers identified the nucleosome superhelical crevice as a key molecular selectivity filter and demonstrated that rational chemical modifications can direct compounds to specific chromatin binding sites. The findings support the development of a new generation of metal-based therapeutics that target histone proteins rather than DNA, offering a potential alternative to conventional platinum-based chemotherapy. Although still at the research stage, the study highlights the growing biomedical potential of ruthenium and osmium beyond their traditional industrial applications. Continued advances in precision metal-based therapeutics could strengthen long-term demand for high-purity specialty platinum group metals in the life sciences sector.