Robust in US Auto sales may lift Platinum, Palladium in 2016

UNITED STATES January 07 2016 10:20 AM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): Robust United States auto sales last month should be supportive for platinum and palladium, although for now they are falling with base metals and thus failing to profit from the data, said the analysts at Commerzbank. 

Analysts cite data from Ward’s Automotive Group showing 1.63 million vehicles were sold in December last year, making this the strongest month of 2015. In all of 2015, sales totaled 17.38 million, which exceeds the previous record high from 2000. 

Factors helping sales included low gasoline prices, an improving labor market and low interest rates. This comes at a time when the average age of a car in the U.S. is more than 11 years, meaning an aging fleet, the bank continued.

“This, coupled with a solid U.S. economy, could also make 2016 a year of robust vehicle sales. This should boost platinum and palladium, which are used in auto catalysts; palladium in particular should profit because the U.S. market is gasoline-dominated,” analysts noted.