Russia's invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions on Russia are putting pressure on several sectors including commodities. Two precious metals that could be affected by the global crisis are palladium and platinum.
What Happened: The U.S. and other countries are imposing sanctions on Russia, which could impact exports out of the country across varying sectors.
Russia is the largest global producer of palladium and the No. 2 producer of platinum, two metals that could be impacted by the Eastern European conflict.
Thirty-nine percent of the global refined supply of palladium comes from Russia, according to Kitco. The country also accounts for around 11% of global platinum supply.
Palladium is used by automotive manufacturers, in electronics and in jewelry. Platinum is the third most-traded precious metal in the world behind gold and silver and is also used for automotive and jewelry applications along with industrial and medical items.
Palladium was up nearly 7% to $2,648 per ounce on Thursday. The metal started the year trading around $1,905 and is now up over 30% year-to-date.
Platinum was down more than 1% at $1,094 and is up around 15% year-to-date.
Right now, exporters of metals in Russia have not been affected by sanctions, but that could change ...
Benzinga
