Cut to Platinum Production Hits Stillwater Mining and ETF Shares

Platinum prices have fallen to around $1,488 an ounce, down from nearly $1,600 a month ago and over $1,700 at the beginning of the year. Over the past 12 months, platinum prices are down about $100 an ounce.

The only U.S. platinum miner, Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC), saw its share price rise more than 60% in the nine months through early February, but shares have declined by about 20% since then. Some of that was the result of a proxy battle led that ended up making a major change in the company’s board. But rising global stockpiles of platinum and the declining price of the white metal likely played a bigger role.

Here’s a look at how platinum and palladium ETFs have done over the last 12 months. In all but one case, the year-to-date high has dropped from its level in January, when we last looked at these funds.

The ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSEMKT: PPLT) currently trades around $145.95 in a 52-week range of $135.80 to $170.78, off about 15% from a February high.

The UBS E-TRACS Long Platinum Total Return ETN (NYSEMKT: PTM) trades today at $16.64 in a 52-week range of $15.61 to $21.00, down about 21% from an October peak.

The iPath DJ-UBS Platinum Total Return Sub-index ETN (NYSEMKT: PGM) trades at $34.09 in a 52-week range of $30.55 to $39.33, down around 13%since February.

The ETFS Physical Precious Metal Basket Shares (NYSEMKT: GLTR) currently trades at $77.58 in a 52-week range of $74.24 to $102.05, down nearly 25% from an October high.

The PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund (NYSEMKT: DBP) trades at $47.53 in a 52-week range of $45.10 to $63.80, a drop of 25% since the stock’s October peak.

The ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSEMKT: PALL) trades at $69.34 in a 52-week range of $54.74 to $77.20, down 10% since a peak in March. This fund’s 52-week high improved since January, the only one of this group to achieve that.

Stillwater’s shares are down about 1.5% today at $12.21 in a 52-week range of $7.47 to $14.87. Stillwater posted its high in February, when platinum prices rose above $1,700 an ounce.