, Columnist
Palladium Still Isn’t Pricey Enough
At current levels, miners don’t have much incentive to dig up more of the metal’s money-losing cousin, platinum, which crops up in the same deposits.
Gold standard.
Photographer: Chip Chipman/Bloomberg
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Platinum’s lesser-known cousin keeps going from strength to strength.
Palladium, once considered an unattractive byproduct of platinum mining until the rise of catalytic converters in the 1970s, is hitting new records. Spot metal peaked at an all-time high $1,344.41 a troy ounce Wednesday. Over the past month, it’s been more costly than gold, which hasn’t happened since 2002. From a point a decade ago when an ounce of platinum bought you more than 5 ounces of palladium, it now buys you about 0.6 ounces.