The world’s three major Platinum producers, accounting for about 40 percent of the world’s production, are seeking to bypass the union by taking their wage offer directly to employees in cellphone text messages, public meetings and radio commercials.
On Monday the Wall Street Journal reported the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union said that the offers of the three companies fell short of their original demand for a basic monthly wage of 12,500 South African rand (about $1,195) and that its members will continue to strike. AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa said that the strike could intensify if companies try to close mines permanently or cut more jobs at the mines.
One of the three companies involved, Lonmin PLC (LONJ), has set a Thursday deadline for phone-message acceptance from its employees. It is hoping to have its employees back at work by the middle of next week. The other two companies are making similar efforts.
Indian silver had the largest decline on Tuesday, May 6, dropping 2.6 percent and landing at INR 43,322 ($719.94) per kilogram. The price of US silver increased 0.4 percent to $19.59 per ounce. Chinese silver gained 0.1 percent to finish at CNY 4,115 ($658.85) per kilogram. Japanese silver held its value on Tuesday at JPY 626.00 ($6.13) per 10 grams.
After a 0.8 percent increase, Indian gold bullion finished the day at INR 28,460 ($472.96) per 10 grams. US gold bullion finished the day down 0.2 percent to $1,310 per ounce. Chinese gold bullion saw little change in its price yesterday at CNY 262.77 ($42.07) per gram. The price of Japanese gold bullion remained essentially flat at JPY 4,219 ($41.31) per gram.
US platinum bar prices inched up 0.3 percent to $1,447 per ounce. The price of Chinese platinum bar showed little movement on Tuesday at CNY 309.00 ($49.47) per gram. At JPY 4,692 ($45.94) per gram, the price of Japanese platinum bar was essentially unchanged.
US palladium bar prices rose 0.4 percent to $814.00 per ounce. Japanese palladium bar stayed flat at around JPY 2,665 ($26.09) per gram. The price of Chinese palladium bar held steady at CNY 185.00 ($29.62) per gram.