PA1!: K.O. or bear-trap Round 2?

With rate cut questions fueled by the West's bumbling towards another Mid-East war, palladium bears have returned the recent pump to sender with a vengeance. Factor in more EVs and the future for the PGMs looks bleak, right? But a closer look suggests not is all as it seems for these precious metals with their unique properties.

A recent Reuters article from December 2023 revealed that Russian and Chinese scientists with government backing "have been conducting semi-industrial tests of palladium-based catalysts for the hydrogen industry's water electrolysis and fuel cell technology," with the tests "due to be completed in the first quarter of 2024." With Russia being the largest miner of palladium and China the biggest importer, these new "products could add 40 metric tons of global demand for palladium by 2030, offsetting a surplus of 10-20 tons owing to the expected reduction in consumption by the automotive industry by the same year". Furthermore, tests of these new "palladium-based catalysts for the chemicals industry will start in the second quarter" of 2024 with focus also on the "development of a palladium-based photocell..for the solar power sector." (source: reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/nornickel-chinese-partners-seek-place-palladium-energy-transition-2023-12-05/)

Add to this equation massive US investment in a hydrogen economy as evidenced by the number of projects presenting at CES '24 and PA1! is worth keeping an eye on.

(Disclaimer: Any and all ideas and or comments published by me is not financial advice and you trade at your own risk.)
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