Palladium traded close to its highest level in three weeks on Friday, continuing a recovery from a 16-month low touched earlier this month.
Zimplats reported higher Q1 concentrate output despite a furnace maintenance hit to matte production, and Sprott's physical platinum and palladium trust disclosed a smaller but still positive third-quarter profit. Platinum itself stayed range-bound, extending its drift lower from January's record run.
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Palladium trades near a three-week high, still rebuilding from a 16-month low#
December palladium futures traded up $21.50 at $1,013/oz on the morning of November 13, trading close to its highest level in three weeks, according to a market note from Price Futures Group's Phil Flynn.
The note said palladium had been trading roughly a third below platinum in early November, a gap that gives automakers an incentive to shift back toward palladium loadings in catalytic converters where formulations allow it.
The move comes against the backdrop of a third-quarter operating update Sibanye-Stillwater released on Thursday, November 5, in which the only primary palladium producer in the United States cut its 2026 US output guidance to between 245,000 and 255,000 ounces of combined palladium and platinum, down from a prior 280,000 to 300,000 ounces, after a five-week strike that ended October 7 cut third-quarter US output 19% year on year to 59,417 ounces.
Lower mine supply from the only US primary producer, layered on an already discounted price versus platinum, is the kind of combination that can support palladium even as broader risk sentiment stays shaky.
Zimplats lifts Q1 concentrate output 3% as furnace maintenance dents matte#
Zimplats increased 6E concentrate production 3% year on year to approximately 164,000 ounces in the first quarter of its 2027 financial year (the three months to September 30), according to Implats' first-quarter production report.
Milled tonnes rose 2% to 2.02 million tonnes and concentrator recoveries improved two percentage points to 76.8%, with improved underground mining efficiency offsetting the closure of the South Pit open-pit operation at the end of FY2026.
However, 6E metal production in matte fell 3% to about 139,000 ounces because a scheduled 60-day furnace ring maintenance programme that began in September constrained smelting, lifting excess concentrate inventory by roughly 20,000 ounces to 43,000 ounces at quarter-end.
Zimplats, majority owned by Implats, kept its FY2027 in-matte production guidance at 630,000 to 660,000 ounces, saying the stockpiled concentrate is expected to be processed through the rest of the financial year.
Sprott's platinum and palladium trust posts $35.37 million Q3 profit, down from a year ago#
Sprott Physical Platinum and Palladium Trust (SPPP) reported $35.37 million in net income for the three months ended September 30, down from $56.67 million a year earlier, in a Form 6-K interim report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12. Platinum bullion drove the quarter, contributing $27.8 million of unrealized gains and $9.2 million of realized gains, while palladium holdings booked $4.1 million of unrealized losses against $3.8 million of realized gains.
Over the first nine months of the year the trust posted a $155.32 million net loss, reversing $126.14 million of profit in the same period of 2025, as its total return came to -20.5% against spot returns of -16.7% for platinum and -25.4% for palladium.
Net assets stood at $530.92 million, or $14.09 per unit, at quarter-end, backed by 200,095 troy ounces of platinum and 155,159 troy ounces of palladium.
Prices and market context#
Platinum's January futures contract traded at $1,517.40/oz, down $3 on the day, on the morning of November 13, according to Price Futures Group.
The metal has been "in a pause after a wild year," the same note said, having run to nearly $2,900 in January before grinding lower through 2026; the World Platinum Investment Council's record for that move was $2,923/oz on January 26, a level not revisited since.
Palladium's December contract, as above, traded at $1,013/oz, up $21.50 on the day and still roughly a third below platinum's level, a gap that has persisted since early November.
For broader context, the World Platinum Investment Council's Platinum Quarterly for Q2 2026, published September 9, revised its 2026 platinum market outlook to a 265,000-ounce surplus, a swing from the 297,000-ounce deficit it had forecast for the year in its Q1 2026 edition, while lifting its estimate of the 2025 deficit to more than 1 million ounces.
The same report put above-ground platinum stocks at roughly 3.4 months of demand by the end of 2026, underscoring why the market has been able to absorb a slower pace of fresh buying even as mine supply from South Africa and Zimbabwe stays exposed to smelter maintenance such as this week's Zimplats update.
Readers tracking daily levels can check live quotes on DailyPlatinum's platinum price and palladium price pages, and compare year-to-date moves on the platinum price chart.
What to watch#
- Zimplats' concentrate drawdown through the rest of FY2027: the 43,000-ounce inventory built up during the September furnace maintenance is expected to be processed in coming quarters, which should lift reported matte output if smelter operations stay stable.
- Palladium's price gap to platinum: Price Futures Group noted the roughly one-third discount is already giving automakers an incentive to favor palladium in catalytic converter formulations; a further narrowing would be a signal worth tracking on DailyPlatinum's palladium price and PGMs in autocatalysts pages.
- Sibanye-Stillwater's US workforce rebuild: the company said labor attrition during wage negotiations has left staffing at its Montana operations about 25% below the levels planned for next year's mechanized operations, a factor that will shape whether the reduced 2026 US output guidance holds.
For background, see DailyPlatinum's pages on Sibanye-Stillwater, Impala Platinum, Zimplats and PPLT, a US-listed physically backed platinum ETF comparable to Sprott's trust.
Sources#
- Price Futures Group (Phil Flynn), Manic Metals Report 11/13/2026
- Mining.com, Sibanye cuts US output forecast after five-week strike
- Mining Zimbabwe, Zimplats Q1 Concentrate Output Rises 3% in FY2027
- TokenPost, Sprott Physical Platinum and Palladium Trust Posts $35.37 Million in Q3 Net Income