Despite the introduction of palladium and possibly gold into the automotive catalyst market, Dr David Jollie, author of the Johnson Matthey Platinum Review, believes platinum still has a role to play.

During an interview with Moneyweb, Dr Jollie said that other metals had been used in the market for a while and the most recent change was the use of palladium in diesel catalysts.

"Now there are some platinum-only, and some mainly platinum with some palladium in there," he explained.

He said that the industry would be looking into using palladium in catalysts because it was about "a quarter of the price of platinum" but he said that platinum would not be phased out yet.

"In the auto market certainly we're seeing an increasing introduction of these platinum/palladium diesel catalysts, we're seeing people still switching out of platinum/rhodium catalysts into palladium/rhodium catalysts for the gasoline market," he said.

"So, it's ongoing but it's a slow process. It takes a year or two to really gain momentum," Dr Jollie predicted.

Source:

Dr David Jollie: Author, Johnson Matthey Platinum Review, 25/01/08
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page55?oid=186567&sn=Detail

Ÿ Adfero Ltd