Überlegung zu Platin und Palladium - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[TFischer]

Platin und Palladium wird laufend in Katalysatoren gebraucht und bisher haben alle Anstrengungen der Industrie versagt, diese Metalle durch preisgünstige Substitute zu ersetzten! Nun wir aber seit nicht langer Zeit Palladium immer teurer im Vergleich zum Platin. Anscheinend eignet sich Palladium besser bei bestimmten Temperaturen.
Aber: Bisher wurde nur versucht, Platin u n d Palladium durch irgendetwas ausserhalb der Platinmetallreihe zu ersetzen - was passiert aber, wenn nun Palladium durch das verwandte Platin ersetzt werden kann! Das würde doch bedeuten, dass Platin teurer und Palladium billiger werden würde, der Spread würde verschwinden. Also eine Tradingchance auf Platin!?

Gruss

TFischer

[gholzbauer]

Pt und Pd können (zumindest teilweise) alternativ eingesetzt werden.
Vor einiger Zeit, als Pd noch deutlich unter Pt notierte, haben die Kat-Hersteller von Pt- zu mehr Pd-Einsatz verschoben. Vor ein paar Monaten haben die ersten Hersteller (GM war glaube ich dabei) bereits angekündigt, wieder stärker auf Pt zu setzen. Insofern kann es gut möglich sein, daß sich die Spanne in den nächsten Monaten verringert oder sogar umkehrt.
MfG

[gholzbauer]

NZZ vom 3.1.01 zu Commodities, u.a. Pt/Pd
http://archiv.nzz.ch/books/nzzmonat/0/$72KZB$T.html

[Dottore Lupo]

Als Palladium stinkebillig im verhältnis zu Platin war,

konstruierten die Autobauer ihre Motoren und Kats auf PD

um.Ein sehr teuerer Irrtum.Es dauert jetzt eine Weile, den

Rückbau zu bewekstelligen.Würden sie Pd durch Pt ersetzen,was nur zu einem

bestimmten Prozentsatz geht,stiegen die Kosten ebenfalls enorm an.

Ohne Kat kein Auto,dh die Buben sind in einem rasanten

short sqeeze gefangen und müssen richtig löhnen.

cu Dottore Lupo

[TFischer]

Ich habe vor einiger Zeit mal in einem Interview gehört, dass Palladium und Platin sich in einer wichtigen Eigenschaft bezüglich Temperaturverhalten unterscheiden und das Palladium da besser abschneidet. Genaueres weiss ich leider nicht mehr. Hier wäre eine Recherche unbedingt notwendig!

Gruss

TFischer

[gholzbauer]

"PGM Substitution in Auto Catalysts"
http://www.platinumguild.org/PtMarkets/Demand/Automotive/PGM…

[gholzbauer]

Rising price of palladium forces return to platinum: Catalytic converters
Financial Post - Canada; Feb 14, 2001
BY PHILIP QUINN



There is something more precious than gold in your car`s catalytic converter -- palladium.

Gold currently sells for approximately US$266 per troy ounce. Palladium trades for more than US$1,000 an ounce.

The irony is that car manufactures switched to palladium from platinum because it was the cheaper precious metal and tolerated sulphur better. "Canadian gasoline has a high sulphur content and palladium succumbs less to it than platinum," says Donald Kirk, professor of chemical engineering, Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto.

At the time of the switch, palladium was selling for about US$99 an ounce and platinum in the neighbourhood of US$400 to US$500 an ounce. Now palladium is almost 50% more expensive. "The price of palladium rose in response to simple demand," says Mr. Kirk.

One report shows the auto industry consumes about 58% of the annual supply of palladium.

Russia produces approximately two-thirds of the world`s supply and some financial analysts suggest that Russia is trying to restrict the flow of palladium to the West in order to achieve higher prices and, in fact, set up a price cartel.

Most cars come equipped with three-way catalytic converters. The "three-way" refers to the types of emissions the converter reduces -- carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

Converters are usually cylinders filled with porous ceramic material, similar in structure to a honeycomb or sponge, creating an enormous surface area. The linings of the pores are sprinkled with particles of precious metals such as platinum, rhodium, palladium or iridium. These materials catalyze reactions with the carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons to produce carbon dioxide. Iridium breaks down the oxides of nitrogen.

Yet, innovations produced the palladium-only precious metal converter which, when combined with zinc, can remove all the gas pollutants.

Nissan Motor Co., Japan`s second-largest carmaker and an innovator in palladium-only catalytic converters, announced recently it was switching back to the traditional platinum-rhodium catalyst due to rising palladium prices.

Savvy investors have benefited from the increase in palladium prices. North American Palladium Ltd. (PDL/TSE) shares have skyrocketed more than 200% in the past year. The 26% rise in its share price since the start of the year puts it among the TSE 300`s top performers.

Palladium is also used in cellphones. Inco Ltd. recently announced a discovery of high-grade palladium platinum ore at its Sudbury, Ont., mine.

[gholzbauer]

Die Palladium-Substitution ist in vollem Gange.

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http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=finer99_auto.ht&s=AOv…

Mon, 07 May 2001, 2:12am EDT

Platinum Rises to Two-Week High as Users Switch From Palladium
By Vladimir Todres

London, May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Platinum rose to a two-week high while palladium changed little, in a further sign that carmakers are switching back to platinum as a raw material for pollution control devices.

Auto manufacturers can use either platinum or palladium to build catalytic converters that filter exhaust. Volatile price swings caused by irregular shipments from Russia have reduced demand for palladium, knocking the price down 36 percent over the past four months. Platinum has risen 4 percent during that time.

``Fundamentals for platinum are solid and palladium is coming off,`` said Rhona O`Connell, an analyst at Canaccord Capital. ``Platinum and palladium are heading toward parity.``

Platinum for immediate delivery rose as much as $15.50, or 2.5 percent, to $627.50 an ounce in London, its biggest one-day gain since April 17. Palladium rose as much as $5.50, or 0.8 percent, to $675.50 an ounce.

Carmakers use about one-third of the world`s platinum and 62 percent of palladium. In 1998 and 1999, palladium cost a third as much as platinum, around $100 an ounce, so the auto producers switched to it.

Since then, the situation has reversed. Palladium prices rose 11-fold in 18 months until January, peaking at $1,125 an ounce on concern over shipments from Russia, which accounts for two-thirds of the world`s supply. For platinum, Russia is the second-largest exporter after South Africa, whose supply has been more reliable.

After its recent declines, palladium costs 7.7 percent more than platinum, and many traders predict the prices will soon converge.

``It`s not an unreasonable view that platinum and palladium should be trading closer,`` said Simon Weeks, head of precious metals trading at the bank of Nova Scotia-ScotiaMocatta.

To protect themselves from fluctuations in Russian supplies, carmakers have accumulated stockpiles of palladium and reduced their buying on the open market, analysts said.

Demand for palladium slumped 10 percent last year even as its price soared, according to preliminary data from Johnson Matthey Plc, the world`s biggest refiner and marketer of platinum and palladium. Purchases of the metal fell to 8.4 million ounces from 9.36 million ounces in 1999, the company said.

Demand for platinum rose 1.6 percent in 2000 to 5.69 million ounces, Johnson Matthey said. The company will announce its final figures on last year`s markets on May 14.

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http://www.planetanalog.com/products/OEG20010430S0060

6 May 2001
Capacitors offer low ESR for use in 3G cell phones


By Bettyann Liotta
EE Times
April 30, 2001 (10:30 a.m. EST)

Smyrna, Ga. - Murata Electronics North America Inc.`s GRM615 series capacitors can boost performance via lower equivalent series resistance (ESR) and increase battery life in mobile and handheld devices, according to the company.

Although the 0402-size capacitors can be used in any high-frequency wireless application, they are especially suited for use in wideband code-division multiple access third-generation cellular phones.

The series, with a capacitance range of 0.1 to 20 picofarads, is offered in standard E24 steps. At 1-GHz frequency, the GRM615 provides capacitance of up to 20 pF, ESR of less than approximately 0.3 ohm and a Q of up to 700, said group product manager Frank Guiney.

The components` most notable benefits include a higher Q than other standard ceramic capacitors, lower power consumption and decreased size, Guiney said. "Previously, we didn`t have a high-Q product in the 0402 package. The high-Q component increases performance and battery life in mobile and handheld devices due to lower ESR," he said. Additionally, it`s an inexpensive way to boost performance, he said.

The capacitor utilizes copper inner electrode technology instead of palladium. The resistivity is roughly 10 percent lower than that of common silver and palladium electrodes, Guiney said. "Design engineers find this critically important because these parts perform better at higher frequencies and consume less power. This benefit is critical in wireless communications and high-frequency applications-particularly in the cell phone sectors," he said.

Murata`s GRM 615 series costs roughly 5 cents per capacitor. Delivery is stock to eight weeks.

Call [phone]
www.murata.com
EETInfo No. 601

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http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=01…

3.5.2001
....
Palladium continued to flounder, fixing at Dollars 685 an ounce in London compared with its record of more than Dollars 1,000 three months ago. Analysts believe there is worse to come.

Makers of multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) for electronic appliances have substituted base metals for palladium in many of their less sophisticated "Class 2" microchips, but Class 1 chips are more of a challenge.

Samsung, however, announced this week that it had developed a new Class 1 copper electrode capacitor with three times the stability and tolerance of palladium capacitors at a fraction of the cost. Production is expected to start at 100m chips a month.

"Palladium was shielded from substitution late last year as a surge in demand from white goods makers led to the panic building of chip stocks," said Ross Norman at TheBullionDesk.com. "These consumers are now faced with over-extended stocks and falling demand."

The Financial Times Limited