Rhodium prices fell further this week as sellers lowered offers to attract Asian industrial buyers that had exited the market.
The Platts New York Dealer rhodium price slid this week to $910-$975/oz from $950-$1,015/oz last week on low demand.
Rhodium was already under pressure after stalling at the $1,025/oz level for several weeks following a sharp run-up in the first quarter. But most of the decline occurred earlier in the week as major European refiners began lowering base prices in the absence of industrial buyers.
UK-based Johnson Matthey, which ended last week at $980/oz, lowered its base price to $950/oz by Wednesday morning and closed the week at that level. Germany-based Engelhard Materials Services (BASF) also lowered its base price to $950/oz after closing last week $980/oz.
"There were people offering lower and no one was buying," one US PGMs dealer said Thursday, putting the range of physical deals at $890-$950/oz.
"Mostly, I just think there was a lack of demand in Asia, and that's really all the demand we've seen. I think they thought it was going lower and just held out," the dealer added.
A lack of buying by investment banks also helped prices move lower, according to a second US PGMs dealer.
"I think a couple of banks had reached their limits, and they were trying to liquidate, but some other people came in and starting [buying] it in the low $900s," the dealer said, putting this week's range of deals at $905-$990/oz.
Several PGMs refiners agreed that some sales earlier in the week had been done in the low $900s, but said dealers steadily raised their offers to $930-$940/oz by the end of Thursday.
"We're not sure if that's just panic selling after people caught wind that the industrial demand has tailored off a bit, or whether they were trying to clear their books," one of the refiners said.
"But I think that's added a lot to the slow demise over this week," he added, putting this week's range at $915-990/oz.
A second refiner/recycler, who put the range at $900-$975, said "no one was really showing any interest in it."
Rhodium is used in automobile catalytic converters to reduce certain greenhouse gas emissions. The metal is also used to make glass reinforcement fiber for digital displays.
