Car industry: no bottlenecks yet from platinum strike
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Auto parts supplier Faurecia and German premium carmakers Daimler and BMW said they have seen no signs of delivery bottlenecks for catalytic converters in the wake of a strike at the world's top platinum mines.
But German industry body VDA, which represents the large car manufacturers, said it may be too soon to gauge the impact of a labour dispute between platinum producers and South Africa's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).
A strike has hit over 40 percent of global production of the precious metal, which is used to make emissions-capping catalytic converters, sending the precious metal's spot price to a four-month high of around $1,480/oz. this week.
"Often the impact of such price fluctuations are not immediately felt in the short term," a VDA spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Earlier this week, producers Anglo American Platinum , Impala Platinum and Lonmin failed to end a six week strike, saying that the government-mediated talks had broken down.
A spokesman for Daimler said the maker of luxury cars and trucks manages raw material risks through various instruments, including the use of financial derivatives, helping it to smooth volatile market prices.
"With regard to the current strikes in South African platinum mines, we do not expect any short-term implications on platinum prices beyond the usual known volatilities in this market," a spokesman said in a statement. "We also do not expect any short-term implications on the overall supply situation in the platinum market."
A spokesman for Faurecia said platinum prices vary for many reasons linked to supply and demand, noting that the current high of about $1,480/oz is still lower than the price in September 2013, which was around $1,500/oz.
Faurecia said product sales were not likely to be hit by price fluctuations.
"The impact on Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies of an increase in the price of platinum is that our total sales should increase but our product sales will not be significantly affected," the French auto supplier, which is controlled by Peugeot, said in a statement on Thursday.
Munich-based BMW is also not affected by the price rises thanks to hedging, a spokesman said on Thursday.
"For precious metals we don't have single-sourcing," BMW said, adding that they also purchase in other countries and recycle platinum.
(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume, Edward Taylor and Agnieska Flak; editing by Catherine Evans and Keiron Henderson)
