NEW YORK (Scrap Register): Standard Chartered does not look for palladium to trade above platinum on a sustained basis. There has been some conjecture about such a possibility after outperformance by palladium so far this year.
Standard points out that palladium did trade above platinum back in the early 2000s, when there was supply shortages of palladium from Russia and auto-catalyst manufacturers were stockpiling the metal. 
“Palladium is primarily used in gasoline auto catalysts, usually alongside a small amount of rhodium, while platinum is primarily used in diesel auto catalysts along with rhodium,” Standard added.
“It is in diesel auto catalysts that the recent substitution of platinum for palladium has occurred, but it is palladium and rhodium -- being the superior metal in the process -- that are used to control the nitrogen oxide emissions in gasoline vehicles,” said analysts at Standard Chartered.
“While it may be theoretically economically viable to substitute palladium for platinum, in practice this cannot be implemented swiftly. In turn, while we would not rule out palladium flirting above platinum prices, our base case is not for palladium to trade above platinum on a sustained basis in the near term,” they noted.