China's low demand on metals is continuing to affect prices of mining production around the world, and the country's demand of other precious metals is starting to take a downward turn as well.

China has been lowering its imports of platinum and palladium, and because of these, prices are deeply affected. In February, the country's platinum net import stumbled 56 percent to 2.8 tons. According to HSBC, this net import is China's lowest since 2009. The net import of palladium, on the other hand, fell down to 54 percent.

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One of the reasons of this lowering import is the decrease of interest for platinum jewelry, with the demand going down by 1.3 percent in 2014. China consumed more than 60 percent of the world's platinum jewelry in 2014, mainly due to a high demand of wedding bands. According to the World Platinum Investment Council, China is the largest consumer of platinum in the world, more than Japan, India, Western Europe, and the United States.

With the decrease of demand comes a decrease in price. Platinum's value weighed down to $1,087 per troy ounce in March, the lowest in five years, while palladium is now valued at $765.5 per troy ounce.

Financial group Macquarie has estimated that the first two months of the year were particularly down for platinum imports, and the lowest in any two-month period for five years.

Palladium's price increase can be blamed in increasing gasoline car sales. The rise of cars in China is relatively new than in other markets, which means that there is a lesser supply of recycled platinum.

"For palladium, the low import figure is also concerning, reinforcing the confusing trend for Chinese palladium imports to fail to respond to trends in Chinese car production," Macquarie said in a statement published by Financial Times.

Reuters reported the result of a poll taken by 31 analysts and traders in the industry on their forecasts for both platinum and palladium prices after the two metals fell short before gold and silver. The results suggested that experts believe that platinum will cost an average of $1,220 an ounce this year, a price below 7 percent compared to the results of a same poll conducted three months ago. Palladium also did not do well, with a price forecast of $810 an ounce from $845 in January.

Russia remains to be the world's top producer of palladium, and its mining sector is continuing to show immense growth. In the Russian Far East of Amur Oblast Region, developing company, Amur Minerals Corporation (OTC: AMMCF), is expected to produce 67 million tons containing nickel and copper. This new development will not only place Russia at the top of the nickel and copper game, but it will continue to strengthen the mining sector despite all price and demand dilemmas. 

TagsChina palladium demand, platinum demand drops