Palladium climbs despite uncertainty about Chinese demand, dollar's strength

Palladium prices rose on Friday even as the dollar rose against most major rivals and following weak Chinese data.

Impala Platinum CEO, Muller, said the quick decline in palladium and rhodium prices hurt profits and shifted focus to costs reduction.

He added there's still no risks of shuttering mines but the administration is assessing the profitability of each mine.

The Johannesburg-based mining company said its profits in the year ending June 30 fell 41%, while profit distribution fell 65%.

Rhodium prices fell by nearly two thirds in 2023 to $4100 an ounce, while palladium fell 31% this year to $1230 an ounce.

Muller said that while record high prices were sustainable, the steep and shocking decline was quite a surprise. 

South Africa is the world's largest rhodium supplies, and the world's second producer of palladium after Russia.

Mining was also hurt by electricity outages in South Africa, which cut Impala mining activities by 4% last year.

In addition, weakening demand in China is expected to hurt prices even further.

Otherwise, the dollar index rose 0.5% as of 16:41 GMT to 104.1, with a session-high at 104.1, and a low at 103.2.

Palladium futures due in December rose 0.6% to $1,225.5 an ounce.