Platinum/Commodity Prices

[Arcam]

Being that I work in the investment consulting industry (for pension funds) and keep an eye on the commodity markets from time to time, I thought I would pose the following the question (to vendors/appraisers/any other experts). Many vendors that were doing custom work were increasing their prices for platinum work due to the rise in prices (it looks like platinum spot prices 30% between march 06 and may/june 06). This increased cost also seemed to be passed onto most platinum pieces I''ve come across. Witht that said, I have the following questions: Are spot prices a good indicator of what vendors are paying to get platinum; and given the recent decrease in platinum prices (it looks like spot prices have decreased ~15% from peak, ) how long does it typically take for that savings to get passed onto the consumer?

 

[oldminer]

When metal prices rapidly rise, the selling price of mountings quickly follows. The cost of materials is immediately passed on to the manufacturers on a daily basis. When prices fall, the manufacturer may have some inventory based on higher prices and as it is used up, prices tend to come down.

Prices rapidly rise and tend to fall back somewhat slower. You lose a bit when costs rise and make it up when costs fall. Eventlually, competition balances out the equation.