Palladium Endures Nine-month Fall Ahead of South African Talks

Bloomberg reported yesterday that palladium prices dropped the most in nine months following news of talks moving forward in an ongoing labor dispute between workers and South African miners. NYMEX palladium futures for June delivery fell 3.6 percent, to $777.80 an ounce, early in the afternoon.

As quoted in the market news:

A resolution of the strike will help ease concerns that supplies will tighten. Demand is set to top production by 783,000 ounces this year, according to Barclays Plc. In 2014, palladium has advanced 8.3 percent, the biggest increase to start a year since 2010.

TD Securities Senior Commodity Strategist Mike Dragosits told Bloomberg:

People are hoping that the strike will end soon. Also, there are no disruptions of supplies from Russia as yet.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg article.