[SMM Flash] Platinum prices remained under pressure on August 14, with the metal approaching the initial downside target of $1,685/oz as bearish momentum continued to dominate. Prices stabilised around $1,715/oz, prompting some sideways movement, although the broader technical picture remained weak. The market is currently trading below the key $1,785/oz resistance level, which continues to cap any recovery attempts. A sustained move below this resistance could increase the likelihood of further declines towards the next target near $1,642/oz. For August 14, the expected trading range was $1,650–$1,740/oz, with the near-term outlook remaining bearish. The price direction will likely depend on whether platinum can regain momentum above the $1,785/oz resistance or continues to trade below this level

Platinum prices fell under pressure today. The US Fed released hawkish signals again, and with the digestion of recent bullish factors for precious metals, along with profit-taking by bulls, upward momentum was suppressed. As of 11:00 in the morning session, the most-traded GFEX platinum futures contract PT2610 closed at 422.85 yuan/g, down 2.32%. The best ask price for SGE platinum 9995 was about 1 yuan/g below the GFEX PT2610 contract. In the spot market, mainstream platinum quotations were at a discount of 3 to 2 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract. With some deeply discounted cargoes cleared and the import price spread narrowing, and with the futures market falling today, mainstream quotation discounts continued to narrow slightly from the previous trading day. Inquiries from downstream buyers for price negotiations and procurement based on orders increased. Consumption recovered slightly, but overall trading remained sluggish.

I. Overall Market Review During this cycle, China’s platinum‑group compound market exhibited notable structural divergence alongside a “rally‑then‑pullback” pattern. Driven by overseas price swings and overseas policy‑related events, platinum‑ and palladium‑based compounds surged in phases before succumbing to corrective pressure; rhodium‑based products trended steadily higher, while iridium‑ and ruthenium‑based grades traded independently with stable performance. The core market contradiction lies in the mismatch between sharply rising costs and persistently weak demand. Sharp jumps in NYMEX platinum and palladium prices directly lifted domestic raw‑material costs for chloroplatinic acid and palladium chloride, hitting periodic highs. Nevertheless, end‑user sectors including automotive catalysts, pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals entered the summer maintenance off‑season with low operating rates and sluggish spot trading. Downstream participants mostly adopted restocking‑on‑demand strategies without sustained buying interest, which triggered broad pullbacks for previously‑rallied platinum‑palladium products, alongside an overall decline in industry processing margins. Less exposed to price spillovers, iridium‑, ruthenium‑ and rhodium‑based products traded within tight ranges with modest upticks. II. Trend of Segmented Products Chloroplatinic Acid: Sharp Volatility, High‑level Correction Its price moved through three phases: stability, sharp rally and pullback. Trading remained quiet at the initial off‑season stage with steady prices. Later, surging overseas platinum prices, together with bullish sentiment from tariffs and geopolitical factors, pushed quotations rapidly to new range highs. In the final phase, high prices curbed downstream purchasing appetite; absent incremental capital, upward momentum faded, leading to weak high‑level consolidation. Palladium Chloride: Leading Gains, Under Pressure at Highs It moved in close correlation with chloroplatinic acid yet posted stronger gains. Driven by overseas palladium rallies, production costs rose markedly, and prices breached key thresholds to reach recent highs. Constrained, however, by off‑season downstream weakness, the rally lacked durable support and ended with high‑level consolidation and mild corrections. Rhodium Trichloride: Steady Strengthening, Moderate Uptrend Trading decoupled from wild platinum‑palladium swings, it maintained a firm bias. Supported by modestly higher feedstock costs, producers tentatively lifted offer prices. Despite off‑season demand headwinds, gains unfolded in an orderly manner without extreme volatility, delivering a sound moderate‑uptrend performance. Chloroiridic Acid & Ruthenium Trichloride: Decoupled, Stable Performance Both grades were largely insulated from platinum‑palladium rally sentiment. Chloroiridic acid registered a mild, slow independent uptick with minimal volatility. Ruthenium trichloride oscillated at low levels within a narrow band and closed only marginally higher. Supported by independent supply‑demand fundamentals, neither saw trending sharp rises or falls, showing the most stable market performance. III. Core Market Drivers Cost‑and‑sentiment‑driven pricing The sharp rally of platinum‑ and palladium‑based compounds stemmed primarily from cost pass‑through amid soaring overseas feedstock prices. Heightened speculative sentiment fuelled by overseas tariff and geopolitical expectations amplified short‑term volatility. By contrast, rhodium‑, iridium‑ and ruthenium‑based products displayed decoupled market behaviour due to weaker correlation. Off‑season demand caps price gains Concentrated downstream maintenance substantially shrank real consumption, creating a “high‑price‑weak‑demand” market dislocation. Market participants maintained lean‑inventory postures with no large‑scale stock‑building activity, leaving platinum‑ and palladium‑based products without fundamental backing and vulnerable to downward pressure. Dual‑sided margin squeeze Profitability of producers and traders was squeezed from both sides: surging upstream feedstock costs and feeble downstream demand. To boost transactions and ease inventory pressure, market players generally lowered processing margins; profit concessions became common practice to facilitate deals. IV. Market Outlook In the short term, China’s platinum‑group compound market will retain its pattern of “cost‑driven, demand‑constrained and structurally‑divergent”. First, chloroplatinic acid, palladium chloride and similar products will stay in weak high‑level consolidation. Their prices remain highly sensitive to overseas market movements. Still, without recovery in off‑season downstream demand, current high price levels lack durable backing, and one‑sided upward momentum is limited. Range‑bound oscillation with mild corrections is anticipated. Second, niche products including rhodium trichloride, chloroiridic acid and ruthenium trichloride face limited external disruptions. Mild feed‑side support underpins their modest upward bias. Even so, off‑season demand drags will prevent aggressive trending rallies in the near term; narrow‑band fluctuation and gradual mild gains are expected.

I. Overall Market Review During the week, China’s platinum group compounds market showed notable structural divergence and a “retreat after rapid rise” pattern. The market was driven mainly by fluctuations in overseas market prices and overseas policy events. Platinum and palladium compounds experienced a period of sharp gains before pulling back under pressure; rhodium-based products rose steadily; iridium and ruthenium-based products remained independent and stable. The core contradiction in the current market is the mismatch between a sharp increase on the cost side and persistently weak demand. Upstream NYMEX platinum and palladium prices jumped sharply, directly pushing up domestic raw material costs for chloroplatinic acid and palladium chloride to fresh highs for the period. However, downstream sectors such as automotive catalysts, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemicals were in the high-temperature maintenance off-season, with insufficient end-user operating rates and sluggish spot trades. Downstream enterprises mostly adopted a strategy of restocking only as needed and lacked sustained buying support, causing platinum and palladium products that had surged earlier to generally pull back under pressure, while industry processing fees moved lower overall. Iridium, ruthenium, and rhodium-based products were less affected by spillover and merely moved sideways with mild gains. II. Price Trends by Product 1. Chloroplatinic Acid: Wild Swings, Correction from Highs The price trend showed three stages: “stable—surge—pullback.” In the early stage, trading was sluggish due to the off-season, and prices were steady; in the middle stage, driven by soaring overseas platinum prices and a confluence of bullish sentiment related to tariffs and geopolitics, prices jumped quickly to new highs for the range; in the later stage, high prices dampened downstream purchase willingness and there was no incremental capital, causing market momentum to fade, and prices consolidated at highs on a subdued note. 2. Palladium Chloride: Leading Gains, Under Pressure at Highs Its trend was highly correlated with chloroplatinic acid, but its gains were more notable. Driven by a surge in international palladium prices, production costs rose sharply, and prices broke strongly through key levels to set recent highs. However, also constrained by weak downstream demand in the off-season, prices lacked sustained support after the rapid rise and eventually ended with high-level consolidation and a slight correction. 3. Rhodium Trichloride: Steady Strengthening, Mild Uptrend The market was independent of the sharp fluctuations in platinum and palladium and was generally firm. Supported by a slight rise in upstream raw material costs, enterprises tentatively raised their quotes. Although constrained by off-season demand, the upward pace was mild and orderly, with no extreme fluctuations, showing a healthy pattern of steady gains. 4. Chloroiridic Acid and Ruthenium Trichloride: Independent Trends, Stable Operation The two products were largely unaffected by the surge in sentiment around platinum and palladium. Chloroiridic acid moved independently in a mild, slow uptrend with minimal fluctuations; ruthenium trichloride remained in low-level sideways movement, ending the period with only a small gain. Both had independent supply-demand patterns, with no trend-like sharp rises or falls throughout the period, and were the most stable. III. Core Operating Logic 1. Costs and Sentiment Dominated Prices The core driver of the surge in platinum and palladium compounds was cost transmission from soaring overseas raw material prices, coupled with events such as overseas tariff and geopolitical expectations, which heated up speculative sentiment and amplified short-term fluctuations. In contrast, iridium, ruthenium, and rhodium products were relatively independent due to weak linkages. 2. Off-Season Demand Capped Gains Concentrated maintenance by downstream end-users caused rigid demand to contract sharply, creating a mismatched pattern of “high prices and weak demand.” Enterprises generally implemented light inventory strategies, with no concentrated stockpiling, directly causing platinum and palladium products lacking fundamental support to quickly come under pressure. 3. Profit Margins Squeezed from Both Sides Sharp rises in upstream raw material costs and weak downstream demand squeezed corporate profits from both directions. To stimulate transactions and relieve inventory pressure, producers and traders generally lowered processing fees; pricing concessions to facilitate transactions became the industry norm. IV. Market Outlook In the short term, China’s platinum group compounds market will continue to show a pattern of cost-led prices, constrained demand, and structural divergence: First, chloroplatinic acid, palladium chloride and other products will continue to consolidate at highs on a subdued note. Going forward, prices will remain highly dependent on overseas market trends; however, before downstream demand in the off-season recovers, high prices will lack sustained support and momentum for a one-sided advance will be insufficient. Prices are expected to be mainly range-bound with slight corrections. Second, niche products such as rhodium trichloride, chloroiridic acid and ruthenium trichloride are subject to limited external disruption and, with mild support from raw material costs, prices are steady with a modest upward bias. However, they are also constrained by off-season demand, so a strong trend-driven rally is unlikely in the short term; overall, they are expected to be dominated by narrow fluctuations and a mild, slow uptrend.

Platinum prices were in the doldrums today. Macro data, US July core CPI was 2.5% YoY, versus 2.5% expected and 2.6% prior. In early trading, the most-traded GFEX platinum futures contract PT2610 closed at 432.1 yuan/g, down 0.52%. The best ask price for SGE platinum 9995 was at a discount of about 2 yuan/g against the GFEX PT2610 contract. In the spot market, mainstream platinum quotations were at a discount of about 3 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract. With some deeply discounted cargoes cleared, import price spreads narrowing, and the futures market weakening in early trading today, mainstream quotation discounts narrowed slightly from the previous trading day. Downstream buyers mainly purchased after price negotiations based on orders, with most transactions concluded near mainstream quotations. Overall, consumption in the spot platinum market recovered slightly today.

Platinum prices consolidated on a subdued note today. Geopolitically, the U.S.-Iran conflict flared up again and negotiations stalled, limiting the upside room for precious metals. The market awaited guidance from this week's inflation data. In the morning session, the most-traded platinum contract PT2610 on the GFEX closed at 435.4 yuan/g, down 0.18%. The best ask price for Pt 9995 on the Shanghai Gold Exchange was at a discount of around 1 yuan/g against the GFEX PT2610 contract. Spot side, mainstream platinum quotations were at a discount of around 3.5 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract. Mainstream quotations struggled to transact, mainly because platinum futures fluctuated at recent highs and low-priced supplies emerged in the market. Some transactions saw discounts widen to 5–4 yuan/g against the most-traded GFEX contract. Downstream consumption was weak, with procurement mainly negotiated based on orders. Overall, platinum spot market consumption was sluggish today, and mainstream quotations faced difficulty in achieving transactions.

Platinum prices continued to consolidate today. Although rate hike expectations had cooled somewhat, the market-priced probability of a September rate hike remained around 50%, and the market focused on further guidance from this week's US CPI data. In the morning session, the most-traded GFEX platinum futures contract, PT2610, closed at 437 yuan/g, up 0.59%. The best ask price for platinum 9995 on the Shanghai Gold Exchange was inverted by around 1 yuan/g against the GFEX PT2610 contract. Spot market, mainstream quotations for platinum were at discounts of 3.5 yuan/g to 2.5 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract, with relatively large quotation differences. Downstream consumption remained weak, with just-in-time procurement as the main mode. The discounts on mainstream quotations were basically flat with yesterday. As futures prices rose continuously, some unhedged cargoes appeared in the market with lower quotations. Today, overall consumption in the platinum spot market remained sluggish.

Platinum prices consolidated today, as the continued release of hawkish signals from the US Fed kept suppressing the upside room for precious metals. During the morning session, the most-traded GFEX platinum contract PT2610 closed at 435.65 yuan/g, up 0.61%, and the price spread between the best ask price of SGE Pt9995 and GFEX PT2610 ended its inversion. Spot market, platinum mainstream quotations were at discounts of 3.5 yuan/g to 2 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract, with quotations varying widely. Downstream consumption remained weak, and most participants purchased as needed based on orders. The mainstream quotation discounts were basically flat compared to yesterday. Overall, no significant improvement was seen in total consumption in the platinum spot market today.

Platinum prices consolidated on a subdued note today, as market caution ahead of non-farm payrolls data, combined with hawkish signals released by US Fed officials, suppressed the sustained upward momentum of precious metals. In the morning session, the most-traded GFEX platinum contract PT2610 closed at 431 yuan/g, down 1.71%. The inverted price spread between the Shanghai Gold Exchange platinum 9995 best ask price and GFEX PT2610 narrowed to around 2 yuan/g. Spot side, mainstream quotations for platinum were at a discount of 3.5 to 2.5 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract. As downstream consumption willingness was limited amid recent futures price rises, the mainstream quotation discount was basically flat compared with yesterday, with a large price spread between bids and offers. Traders' warehouse warrant offers were relatively firm, concentrated near a discount of 2 yuan/g against the most-traded GFEX contract. Overall, platinum spot market consumption remained sluggish today.

Platinum prices continued to hold up well today. Data showed that the US ADP employment change for July was 44,000, below market expectations of 70,000, with the prior figure at 98,000. Spot gold broke above the $4,300/oz mark for the first time since June 18. In the morning session, GFEX's most-traded platinum futures contract PT2610 settled at 435.05 yuan/g, up 1.05%. The inverted spread between the best ask price of SGE platinum 9995 and GFEX PT2610 narrowed to around 3 yuan/g. In the spot market, mainstream platinum quotations were at discounts of 4-2 yuan/g against the PT2610 contract. As futures continued to rise, downstream buying interest remained low, causing mainstream quotation discounts to widen slightly, and the bid-ask spread widened simultaneously. Traders' warehouse warrant offers were relatively firm, concentrated near a discount of 2.5 yuan/g to GFEX's most-traded contract. Overall, trading in the platinum spot market remained sluggish today.