Precious metals
Silver, gold and platinum at a glance
Heraeus Precious Metals publishes its precious metals forecast for the first time in cooperation with the SFA Oxford. The report gives an outlook for 2018 and provides background information on the price trends of precious metals.
"If you want to avoid making the wrong decisions, you have to understand the market better than the rest of the market participants," says Hans-Günter Ritter, Head of Global Trading at Heraeus. The market insights and analyses that the provider of industrial precious metals services has compiled together with SFA Oxford are intended to help with this understanding. In addition to gold, silver and platinum, the experts also analyze palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium.
The gold price rose by 12% in 2017. Heraeus expects the US dollar to strengthen again over the course of the year, which should reverse the current upward trend in the gold price. The expected decline in the supply of liquidity from central banks and rising government bond yields speak in favor of this. On the other hand, the political conflicts in Korea and the Middle East are likely to have a supportive effect. "Gold therefore remains a safe haven for investors," concludes the analysts.
As the price of silver is linked to the price of gold, Heraeus expects prices to fall over the course of the year. Although industrial demand for silver grew slightly in 2017, mainly driven by the rapidly growing photovoltaic industry. This trend is likely to continue in 2018, but will not be sufficient to provide any impetus of its own.
"The market conditions for platinum will improve in 2018," predicts Heraeus Precious Metals. Demand from the jewelry industry is likely to increase, while the decline in consumption due to the diesel scandal in the automotive industry will level off.
The palladium price is stabilizing at the current high level: In recent years, palladium has benefited from strong growth in the automotive industry, which accounts for 80% of demand. Due to the loss of tax benefits in China, the most important automotive market, and weaker growth in the US market, growth is likely to level off significantly. cs
You might also be interested in
Electromobility and the supplier industry
Bosch wins major order from Mercedes-Benz for electric motors
Bosch receives a major order from Mercedes-Benz to supply electric motors for new electric drives until the 2030s. The supplier is thus further expanding its position in the growth market of electromobility.
read more...Quality controls in production
Robots check car floor pans fully automatically
How can complex components in automotive production be inspected fully automatically and in real time with the help of machine vision and robotics? The case study shows how floor pans are measured and inspected fully automatically.
read more...Less material shortages in the industry?
According to the latest ifo survey, the supply of primary products to industry has eased. The automotive industry in particular is reporting significantly fewer material shortages.
read more...Electromobility as a stabilizing factor
Business climate in the automotive industry improves slightly
The business climate index for the automotive industry improves slightly in December 2025 Electromobility continues to gain in importance and reaches new highs.
read more...Structural change in the industry
Turnover from services reaches 166 billion euros
German industry is changing from a pure producer to a service provider: companies are increasingly focusing on product-related services such as consulting, assembly and maintenance. According to the ifo Institute, they generated more revenue in 2024...
read more...Solutions for surface treatment
Lasers make batteries safe
At the parts2clean trade fair, Trumpf will be presenting manufacturing solutions for surface processing in automotive production, including the TruPulse 5050 nano short-pulse laser and the PFO33 scanner optics.
read more...Why eleven federal states are calling for the use of low-emission steel in the automotive industry
Heads of federal states put pressure on Brussels: Eleven German federal states appeal to the EU to promote low-emission steel in the automotive industry more strongly. The German Steel Federation supports the initiative as an important lever for...
read more...Production of high-voltage batteries
Electrically mobile - sustainable on the road
High-voltage batteries for electric cars are produced at the BMW plant in Leipzig. SEW-Eurodrive supplies proven and new drive solutions from the Movi-C modular system for all process steps - from cell preparation to end-of-line testing.
read more...How FWM automates machining with software and robots from Hermle
When the code writes the code: At contract manufacturer FWM, single-part production runs almost without personnel. Specially developed software automatically generates the programming code, while a robot system from Hermle handles the parts and the...
read more...