Palladium's luster set to eclipse platinum

Palladium is likely to lure investors more than platinum, based on the large growth potential of the Chinese car market. Industry experts, speaking at the London Bullion Market Association annual conference, offered an upbeat outlook for both major platinum group metals (PGM) but singled out palladium as having more room for price gains. Palladium, mainly used in auto-catalysts to cut emissions, is showing its best performance against platinum in about six years due to its reliance on the vehicle market in China, where cars are almost exclusively powered by gasoline. Palladium has risen by more than 30% this year to above US$550 an ounce, while platinum advanced by 9.6% to around US$1,600 an ounce. (September 29, 2010)