RE: Rhodium etc.24 Mar 2021 09:12
I would view the $30,000 as a psychological irrelevance. Of course it is very nice to see it if it happens, it would be even nicer to see it stay for a while but $30,000 is not the number Tharisa needs for a rerate.
We have some excellent PGM basket prices with an OK Chrome price. The profit that Tharisa makes and the cash flow it generates at these prices doesn't just make a difference today it makes a difference for many years to come. The same can be said for many other miners in good commodity price environments - it allows for debt to be paid down, investments to be pulled forward, dividends to be distributed and balance sheets bulked up. In a world of high debt and low returns, the liquidity of companies like Tharisa is invaluable.
So back to my first point, $30,000, $25,000.... it's all a bonus and hopefully it continues for some time in the future. Tharisa was undervalued at $13,000 Oz, the more cash it adds to the balance sheet at these prices then the lower the Rhodium price needs to be for it to be undervalued.
Where Rhodium goes from here nobody knows. I can see arguments for both sides of the equation - on the upside we have China's heavy duty emissions legislation happening in the next few months, tightening emissions in Europe, lower Rhodium from Norilsk. On the downside we have Anglo's back log will see Rhodium by the end of the year although most likely only 25,000 Oz per year, Norilsk may come back on stream quicker and a very high price environment will encourage thrifting.
Personally I see the balance more in favour of the upside and a Rhodium price between $15,000 - $25,000 over the next few years with the short term at the high end of the range if not higher.
The interims in May are the catalyst for me.