British News Agency

Passenger car sales in China declined in October and Tesla deliveries weakened, reducing the immediate need for automotive catalysts. Meanwhile, automakers and catalyst manufacturers have accelerated the technically feasible substitution of platinum for palladium, and the long-term spread of electric vehicles is weakening the growth trend of internal combustion engine demand. Both factors are reducing industrial consumption.

These fundamental factors coincided with mechanical selling as investors took profits after the rally and closed their long positions. A stronger dollar and expectations of higher global interest rates reduced the appeal of non-yielding metals, strengthening the downward trend.

Palladium is a soft, silver-white metal used primarily in gasoline vehicles, electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment, and jewelry manufacturing. The largest palladium producers are Russia and South Africa, accounting for 70–80% of global output, followed by the United States, Canada, and Zimbabwe. Palladium futures are traded on the London Platinum and Palladium Market and the New York Mercantile Exchange, with a standard contract size of 100 troy ounces.