A Mitsui Mining spokesman said the company initially aims to sell the new catalyst to makers of construction machinery products such as loading shovels and bulldozers as well as makers of agricultural machinery such as rice planters.
"We have industrial machinery makers in mind as our target customers," the spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires. He said the company hopes to expand usage to include auto makers after initially starting with machinery.
Autocatalysts, which clean car exhaust fumes and are expected to remain in high demand due to exhaust regulations largely in the U.S. and Europe, are mainly made using platinum. In recent years, engineers have found ways to substitute platinum with cheaper palladium. However, silver is an even lower cost industrial precious metal.
Platinum prices are currently trading around $1,916 a troy ounce, having hit a record high of $2,299/oz on the spot market earlier this year. Meanwhile, palladium is trading around $433/oz and silver is much lower at $16/oz Friday.
Mitsui said it developed the new silver autocatalyst to help catalyst makers reduce costs amid rising platinum prices.
"How far the cost can be cut is the biggest challenge for those users," the spokesman said.
London-based metals consultancy GFMS Ltd. said demand for platinum in autocatalysts rose by 4.2% in 2007 to 4.16 million ounces. GFMS said higher demand was driven by tighter emissions regulations in the diesel sector. However, it said that the high price is increasing substitution of the metal with other materials such as palladium.
-By Yoshio Takahashi and Devon Maylie, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; yoshio.takahashi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-25-08 0514ET
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