Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium - my "Alt-Metals" - are powering higher again this morning along with mild gains for Gold and Silver.
Rhodium is the standout today, up $85 (3.7%) followed by Palladium up $13 (1.36%) and by Platinum up $7 (0.85%).
Rhodium is now up over 43% on the year due to several main factors that won't be getting better anytime soon:
Supply is down and continuing to drift lower. Impala Platinum, one of South Africa's & the world's largest Platinum group metals producers, recently announced that over the next 2 years is will be reducing Platinum production to approximately 520,000 oz from its current levels of 750,000 oz. Since Rhodium is a byproduct of Platinum production, this 20% cut is dramatic.
Social unrest in South Africa is showing no signs of abating. So with guaranteed production cuts, there are also risks in market supply due to political instability.
Above ground supplies have been dwindling
The 2 largest producers of Rhodium, Platinum and Palladium are South Africa and Russia supplying the market with 90% of the worlds supply and both of these supply chains are unfortunately not politically stable in the current paradigm.
I've previously discussed this in the posts below and it looks like my trade is continuing to pay off:
https://steemit.com/steemsilvergold/@matthewwarn/rhodium-spot-rises-past-usd2000
https://steemit.com/steemsilvergold/@matthewwarn/south-african-problems-and-the-rhodium-price
All 3 of these metals are good long term investments in my opinion...I think a little of the bloom is now off of Rhodium since its up 300% since I started my trade. Palladium is also at historic highs. At this point, I'm putting new money into Platinum (Even over Gold).
Silver is also a no-brainer at this manipulated levels....I just don't know how long the "market" is going to continue to discount it. Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium are harder to suppress due to their limited supply. It would be too risky from a short-squeeze perspective.
