Platinum and palladium are both trying to stabilize after a sharp midweek selloff, but platinum still has the stronger structural setup. Trading Economics shows platinum at $2,012.60/oz on March 20, up 3.54% on the day after dropping hard on March 19. Palladium’s latest public Trading Economics quote is $1,454/oz on March 19, down 5.37% on that session, so the public palladium feed is still lagging platinum by about a day.
Today’s pricing snapshot
Platinum is now down 6.50% over the past month but still up 106.06% year over year, according to Trading Economics. Palladium has fallen 18.31% over the past month, though it remains 54.93% higher than a year ago on the latest posted quote. That keeps the broader pattern intact: platinum is correcting from extreme highs but still holding a much stronger long-term trend than palladium.
5 key drivers behind today’s move
1) Platinum still has a real supply-deficit story underneath it
The biggest support for platinum remains the physical market balance. WPIC’s latest quarterly update says the market is still forecast to post a 240,000-ounce deficit in 2026 after a much deeper 1.082 million-ounce deficit in 2025. WPIC also says above-ground stocks are projected to remain at just over four months of global demand through 2026, which is a big reason platinum has stayed historically elevated even during sharp pullbacks.
2) Platinum’s rebound today looks like a bounce after profit-taking
Trading Economics’ platinum news feed says the recent pullback was driven by profit-taking, softer industrial demand, and improved supply conditions after a huge rally in late 2025 and early 2026. That helps explain why platinum is rebounding on March 20: the longer-term deficit story is still there, but the market had become stretched enough to trigger a sharp correction first.
3) Palladium is still being driven by Russia trade uncertainty
For palladium, one of the clearest market drivers remains the U.S. trade case involving Russian supply. The U.S. International Trade Commission scheduled the final phase of antidumping and countervailing-duty investigations into unwrought palladium from Russia on February 24, after Commerce preliminarily determined that Russian palladium was being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. That keeps a risk premium in palladium because Russian supply still matters in a market that can tighten quickly.
4) Palladium still has the tougher demand story
Trading Economics’ palladium coverage says recent weakness has been driven by profit-taking, shrinking automotive demand, and growing supply. The accelerating shift toward battery-electric vehicles also continues to weigh on sentiment because EVs do not use palladium in autocatalysts. That leaves palladium more exposed than platinum when the market turns cautious on industrial demand.
5) Platinum still has broader demand support than palladium
WPIC says very strong investment demand and jewelry demand growth helped push total platinum demand in 2025 to its highest level in nine years, and bar-and-coin investment is expected to stay strong in 2026. Palladium does not have the same broad support base, which is one reason platinum has held up better while palladium’s correction has been steeper.
What to watch next
For platinum, the key question is whether buyers keep stepping back in after this week’s correction because the deficit outlook is still intact. For palladium, traders will keep watching the Russia trade case and auto-demand signals, especially since the latest public quote is still from March 19 rather than March 20. That data lag means palladium could be moving more than the public feed currently shows.
Bottom line
On March 20, 2026, platinum looks like the stronger metal even after a volatile week because it still combines a documented supply deficit with healthier investment and jewelry demand. Palladium remains the more headline-driven metal because Russia-related trade risk matters a lot and its underlying demand picture is weaker.
