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Precious Metal & Battery Metal Review H1.2023
July 07, 2023 10:36 AM EDT | Source: Mineral Fund Advisory PTY Ltd.
Precious Metals
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2023) - Gold price is higher in every major currency in H1.2023. During the first half of 2023, gold traded to new highs in Japanese Yen (JPY +15.8%), Chinese Yuan (CNY +10.1%), Australian and US Dollars (AUD +7.1%, USD +4.8%) and Indian Rupees (INR +4.3%). Central Bank buying continued in H1.2023 foretelling the dawn of a new era for global reserve balances.
Silver lagged gold in H1.2023 returning -5.1% in USD with COT (Commitments of Traders) Reports confirming a lack of investor follow through against growing industrial demand. The Gold/Silver ratio closed H1.2023 at 84.30 which is considerably above the 53-year average (calculated from 1970) of 54.15. A reversion to the Gold/Silver ratio 53-year mean would imply a rally of +56% in silver with no further movement in gold.
Two new improvements in solar cell technology, (TOPcon) tunnel oxide passivated contact cells and (HJT) heterojunction structure cells each requiring up to 25% more silver than existing (PERC) passivated emitter near contact cell technology, will meaningfully increase silver industrial demand. With solar industrial demand for silver prospectively increasing beyond 200M oz. Ag per annum in 2023, silver used in solar applications may begin to exceed 20% of global silver annual supply. In this environment any improvement in COT dynamics, or a return of silver investment interest, could meaningfully influence price dynamics in the relatively tight supply-demand conditions of the global silver metal market.
Rhodium led the Platinum Group Metals lower returning -75.2% in H1.2023 and closing out June 2023 trading at $2,700 $USD/t oz. Rhodium hit an all-time high of $29,900 $USD/t oz. on March 23rd, 2021, but the market is now anticipating that accelerating adoption of Electric Vehicles will reduce demand for Platinum Group Metal catalysts.
Battery Metals
Lithium and nickel metal prices retraced significantly in H1.2023 (-44.6%, -33.8%, respectively) as a speculative frenzy in Battery Metals subsided.
Rystad Energy sees the global market deficit for lithium shrinking from 76,000 tonnes of (LCE) Lithium Carbonate Equivalent in 2022 to around 25,000 tonnes in 2023. Longer-term, several forecasters show Lithium Carbonate (Li₂CO₃) supply growing with the advent of new mines while demand growth is expected to accelerate also, making price forecasting difficult.
Ongoing changes to battery chemistry and increases to metal supplies from new sources, such as the development nickel laterite deposits in Indonesia and Australia and the successes of (HLS) Heavy Liquid Separation technology for lithium extraction, make long term Battery Metal supply-demand dynamics difficult to predict and subject to change.
Reported by Kay Samnani Supported by Christopher J. Berlet BSc, CFA
| PRECIOUS METALS | H1 2023 % Change | H1 Jun.30.23 | YE 31.Dec.22 | |
| GOLD | $ USD / oz. | 5.20% | $1,920 | $1,825 |
| SILVER | $ USD / oz. | -5.10% | $22.75 | $23.98 |
| PLATINUM GROUP METALS | ||||
| PLATINUM | $ USD / oz. | -15.50% | $903.00 | $1,069 |
| PALLADIUM | $ USD / oz. | -30.10% | $1,202 | $1,719 |
| RHODIUM | $ USD / oz. | -75.20% | $2,700 | $10,900 |
| IRIDIUM | $ USD / oz. | -4.20% | $4,600 | $4,800 |
| RUTHENIUM | $ USD / oz. | -2.10% | $465.00 | $475.00 |
| RHENIUM | $ USD / oz. | -6.90% | $45.67 | $49.04 |
| BASE METALS | ||||
| NICKEL | $ USD / lb. | -33.80% | $9.04 | $13.66 |
| COPPER | $ USD / lb. | -1.80% | $3.73 | $3.80 |
| ALUMINUM | $ USD / lb. | -18.60% | $0.95 | $1.17 |
| ZINC | $ USD / lb. | -22.20% | $1.07 | $1.38 |
| LEAD | $ USD / lb. | -9.50% | $0.97 | $1.07 |
| BATTERY METALS | ||||
| CATHODE | ||||
| LITHIUM METAL | $ USD / lb. | -44.60% | $15.44 | $27.86 |
| LITHIUM CARBONATE (Li₂CO₃) | $ USD / lb. | -38.70% | $20.14 | $32.84 |
| LITHIUM HYDROXIDE (LiOH.H₂O) | $ USD / lb. | -44.90% | $19.29 | $35.01 |
| COBALT (Co) | $ USD / lb. | -9.30% | $19.23 | $21.19 |
| COBALT SULFATE (CoSO₄) | $ USD / lb. | -13.00% | $2.74 | $3.15 |
| COBALT CHLORIDE (CoCl₂) | $ USD / lb. | 3.10% | $3.23 | $3.13 |
| NICKEL OXIDE (NiO) | $ USD / lb. | -19.40% | $9.51 | $11.81 |
| NICKEL SULFATE (NiSO₄) | $ USD / lb. | -11.20% | $2.22 | $2.50 |
| NICKEL CHLORIDE (NiCl₂) | $ USD / lb. | -11.80% | $2.82 | $3.20 |
| VANADIUM PENTOXIDE (V₂O₅) | $ USD / lb. | 5.60% | $9.40 | $8.90 |
| ANODE | ||||
| GRAPHITE (C) + 50 XL | $ USD / lb. | 0.00% | $0.88 | $0.88 |
| GRAPHITE (C) + 80 large | $ USD / lb. | 0.00% | $0.70 | $0.70 |
| GRAPHITE (C) + 100 med | $ USD / lb. | 0.00% | $0.60 | $0.60 |
| GRAPHITE (C) + 150 small | $ USD / lb. | 0.00% | $0.40 | $0.40 |
| ENERGY METALS | ||||
| URANIUM | $ USD / lb. | 17.70% | $56.20 | $47.75 |
| HEAVY RARE EARTH METALS | ||||
| GADOLINIUM OXIDE (Gd₂O₃) | $ USD / lb. | -40.00% | $17.22 | $28.71 |
| TERBIUM (Tb) | $ USD / lb. | -41.30% | $675.90 | $1,152 |
| TERBIUM OXIDE (Tb₄O₇) | $ USD / lb. | -38.00% | $567.60 | $915.40 |
| DYSPROSIUM (Dy) | $ USD / lb. | -14.80% | $177.50 | $208.30 |
| DYSPROSIUM OXIDE (Dy₂O₃) | $ USD / lb. | -9.60% | $148.00 | $163.70 |
| ERBIUM OXIDE (Er₂O₃) | $ USD / lb. | -12.70% | $16.90 | $19.36 |
| YTTRIUM OXIDE (Y₂O₃) | $ USD / lb. | -6.60% | $3.25 | $3.48 |
| BATTERY GRADE MISCHMETAL | $ USD / lb. | -2.10% | $11.06 | $11.29 |
| LIGHT RARE EARTH METALS | ||||
| LANTHANUM OXIDE (La₂O₃) | $ USD / lb. | -35.30% | $0.28 | $0.44 |
| CERIUM (Ce) | $ USD / lb. | -5.80% | $1.61 | $1.71 |
| CERIUM OXIDE (CeO₂) | $ USD / lb. | -35.30% | $0.29 | $0.45 |
| PRASEODYMIUM (Pr) | $ USD / lb. | -31.60% | $42.00 | $61.35 |
| PRASEODYMIUM OXIDE (Pr₂O₃) | $ USD / lb. | -30.90% | $31.50 | $45.60 |
| NEODYMIUM (Nd) | $ USD / lb. | -38.70% | $38.39 | $62.66 |
| NEODYMIUM OXIDE (Nd₂O₃) | $ USD / lb. | -37.00% | $31.82 | $50.53 |
| MINOR METALS | ||||
| ANTIMONY (Sb) | $ USD / MT | 7.90% | $12,300 | $11,400 |
| CADMIUM (Cd) | $ USD / MT | -3.10% | $4,051 | $4,181 |
| GALLIUM (Ga) | $ USD / kg. | -46.80% | $200.36 | $376.84 |
| GERMANIUM (Ge) | $ USD / kg. | 18.90% | $1,367 | $1,150 |
| INDIUM (In) | $ USD / kg. | 8.90% | $229.29 | $210.48 |
| MANGANESE (Mn) | $ USD / T | -7.00% | $5.75 | $6.18 |
| MOLYBDENUM OXIDE (MoO₃) | $ USD / lb. | -39.20% | $3.25 | $5.35 |
| SELENIUM (Se) | $ USD / kg. | 34.40% | $35.01 | $26.04 |
| SILICON (Si) | $ USD / MT | 1.10% | $1,996 | $3,248 |
| TELLURIUM (Te) | $ USD / kg. | -1.40% | $81.30 | $82.46 |
| ZIRCONIUM (Zr) | $ USD / kg. | -3.60% | $28.93 | $30.02 |
Source: MineralPrices.com
For further information please contact:
(416) 525 - 6869
manager@mineralprices.com
A Copy of the Full Report is Available at the Link Below:
https://mailchi.mp/1186bc671e15/precious-metal-battery-metal-review-h12023
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/172675