Palladium slides to an 11-month low as yields climb and EVs bite

Palladium fell roughly 5% to $1,311.50 an ounce on 10 September 2026, its lowest level since early October of the previous year, as a resurgent US dollar and climbing bond yields reduced the appeal of non-yielding metals across the board. The decline came alongside a broader sell-off in precious and industrial metals tied to deepening Middle East tensions and growing anticipation of central bank tightening in response to persistent inflation.

Beyond the immediate macro drivers, palladium's slide reflected a structural problem the metal had faced for years: the accelerating shift toward battery-electric vehicles, which require little or no palladium compared with the catalytic converters used in internal combustion and hybrid vehicles, was steadily eroding the metal's largest source of demand. Rising secondary recycling and broadly stable primary production were pushing the market toward the kind of surplus that stood in sharp contrast to the structural deficits still supporting platinum and rhodium.

An uneven PGM basket for South African producers

For Sibanye-Stillwater, Valterra Platinum, Impala Platinum and Northam Platinum, palladium's persistent weakness through 2026 meant the blended PGM basket price they realise depended increasingly on offsetting strength in platinum and rhodium, rather than on any one metal delivering consistent gains. That divergence complicated production planning, since South African PGM ore bodies yield all three metals together regardless of which one the market currently favours.

A profit-taking element too

Some of the September decline also reflected simple profit-taking after palladium's strong rally in late 2025 and early 2026, when the metal had briefly traded near its highest levels since 2022, underscoring how much of that earlier strength had been built on momentum rather than a durable change in the metal's demand outlook.

Analysts said palladium's weakness stood in stark contrast to the still-tight conditions in platinum and rhodium, illustrating how a single ore body producing all three metals together could nonetheless generate wildly divergent price outcomes depending on each metal's distinct end-use demand.

Recyclers of spent catalytic converters said the weaker price was already affecting collection economics, since lower palladium values reduced the incentive to recover the metal from scrapped vehicles relative to the returns available when prices were closer to their 2025 peak.

Sources

• Trading Economics: Palladium Crashes Below $1,400, 10 Sept 2026

Photo: Precious metal crystals; palladium fell to an 11-month low in September 2026 as electric-vehicle substitution weighed on demand. Periodictableru, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.