Palladium Likely to Break More Records, Boosting Automakers’ Costs

  • Supply shortfall expected ‘for a number of years’: Aberdeen
  • Increasing output dependent on nickel, platinum production

Photographer: Chip Chipman/Bloomberg

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Automakers aren’t likely to catch a break on palladium prices anytime soon as the metal used to reduce exhaust emissions is poised to extend its record-breaking rally.

Auto-industry demand for the silvery-white metal -- especially from China -- will probably keep supplies tight for the foreseeable future, as reflected by surging lease rates for the metal, said Steven Dunn, head of exchange-traded funds at Aberdeen Standard Investments, which oversees about $736 billion.