Platinum, palladium prices lower on demand concerns

Price for platinum and palladium fell Tuesday on concerns that demand for the metals in industrial uses, especially by automakers, will not recover soon as signs pointed to a delay in recovery from the global recession.

Both precious metals are used in the manufacture of pollution control devices for motor vehicles.

October platinum fell $11.20 to $1,135.80 per troy ounce in New York trade, while earlier in mid-morning trade September palladium was down $1.10 to $241.55 per troy ounce.

Among other precious metals, September silver was also down, falling 2 cents to $13.22 per troy ounce, but gold was reported $4.50 higher to $928.80 per troy ounce in afternoon trade.

Meanwhile among base metals, three-month copper fell $90 to $4,880 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange despite a decline of 3,250 tonnes to 265,925 tonnes on LME-monitored warehouses during the session, while September copper was down 4 cents to $2.23 per pound.

The declines came as investors and analysts continued to worry about demand growth at a time of year when demand traditionally is light.

Tin prices fell $125 to $14,125 per tonne in London and nickel was down $300 to $15,650 per tonne, but aluminium added a dollar to $1,618 per tonne even though stockpiles rose another 250 tonnes, to near a record high.