Platinum and palladium forecasts slashed after chip shortage hits auto sector: Reuters poll

FILE PHOTO: A worker attends to machinery at a smelter plant at Anglo American Platinum's Unki mine in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

(Reuters) - Analysts and traders have sharply lowered their price forecasts for platinum and palladium after a chip shortage forced auto makers to cut production of vehicles containing the metals, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

Auto makers account for some 40% of platinum demand and 80% of palladium demand, embedding them in exhaust systems to neutralise harmful emissions.