Palladium is a silvery and shiny metal. It is used in many different production processes. You can think about electronics and industrial product for example. You can also see palladium makes its way into medicine, dental, chemical applications, jewelry and even ground water treatment. As you can see it is a very divers and long list of applications.
The atomic number of palladium is 46 and it belong to the group of platina. In this group we also find Rhodium, Rethenium, Iridium and Osmium. This platina group is also called PGMs. On Youtube we find a short clip with clear explanation on palladium. Check it out here.
The current palladium prices are always fluctuating. This raw material is being traded worldwide and will therefore always be on the move. In the graphs above you can see the current course, which gets updated daily.
Rarity of palladium
Did you know that palladium is much rarer than for example gold? The reason for this, is that this metal is being pulled out of the ground 30 times less than gold. This rarity also influences the palladium stock in the raw materials market and makes it a very valuable metal. If we look at the use of palladium, we see that the markets that palladium is used in are pretty niche and therefore not widely known within the investor community. The rarity of palladium therefore has a high risk high reward situation.
Where does palladium come from?
The largest part of the world’s supply of this rare metal can be found in the mines of the United States, Russia, South Africa and Canada.
In 2018 over 200.000 tonnes of palladium was yielded. Russia produced that year the most, gaining 85.000 tonnes. South Africa was the second largest with 68.000 tonnes and Canada takes number three at 17.000 tonnes. The united States only produced 14.000 and Zimbabwe closed the line with 12.000 tonnes. These may sound like huge numbers, but are actually pretty small in comparison to other raw materials. Other countries are buyers of palladium and do not produce any themselves.
Applications of palladium
Platina and palladium look a little bit alike. Just like platina, palladium is a softer metal and does not react to oxygen that is present in the air. This makes it not oxidyze or color different, and makes it a very long lasting metal. Both of them also belong to the platina group. Within this group, palladium is the one with the lowest melting point, which makes it absolutely suitable for creating jewelry.
Palladium can be rolled up to plates that can be used for different applications such as fuel cells and solar energy. Palladium is also a very important part of the electronics world, which uses it very frequently. Because of its low melting point, wealso see it come back in applications in the dental world and watches.
Advantages of palladium
Palladium has many applications, as you can read above. Jewelers used palladium for the first time in jewelry in 1939. By mixing a yellow gold, the alloy forms a metal that is stronger than white gold.
Metal workers can create very thin sheets out of palladium. Pure palladium can be shaped, but becomes stronger and harder when doing this at room temperature. The plates are then used for solar panels or fuels cells for example.
The biggest usage of palladium is in catalysts. The metal is a great catalyst that enhance and speeds up chemical processes and reactions. It is 12.6% harder than platina, which makes it also more durable than its brother in the family. This also makes that when more companies arise, or the existing companies do well, stock of palladium will go up as well.
An alloy is the name of a solid, artificially create, homogenous mixture of a metal with one or more other leements. Examples of natural alloys are elektrum and nickle iron for example.
Investing in palladium
Palladium as raw material caught the attention of investors, because it cannot easily be replaced by other metals. It is a very important part of catalysts, for example, that cannot be replaced, yet, by other metals. The palladium stock is a strange one that requires a bit of investigating. It is a rare metal that has a lot of uses, but because of its niche, not everyone is able to predict the way that palladium buyers work.
Price of palladium
The price of palladium stock is described as $ per ounce. In the ten years between 1986 and 1996, the price of palladium bounced around between $100 and $150 per ounce. In 2001 it reach a peak, which later seemed to show the volatility of this product between 2001 and 2016, moreso than other periods before. It then rose for the first time in 2017 and reached the magic number of $1500 per ounce in 2019. Buyers of palladium know that this volatility exist and have to predict the palladium stock based on a multitude of scenarios. One being the finity of it.
Effect of corona pandemic on palladium
Early 2020 palladium increased by 18 percent of its value, but when the corona virus starting hitting hard, something odd did happen. The effects were visible on all precious metals as a matter of fact. The price for palladium hit an all time high in february, but then dropped 30 days later to a depth of 5 months. The price of gold and silver recovered pretty soon after, platina and palladium followed suit. The pandemic once again proved the volatility of precious metals and palladium, but the palladium stock recovered and is still a worthy investment.
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