LONDON: The roughly 7-million ounce a year platinum market was undersupplied by 390,000 ounces in 2020, its second consecutive annual deficit, specialist materials company Johnson Matthey said on Wednesday.

The 10-million ounce a year palladium market saw a shortfall of 606,000 ounces, continuing a run of deficits stretching back to at least 2015, the company said in a report.

The 1 million ounce rhodium market, meanwhile, was undersupplied by 84,000 ounces, its second consecutive shortfall, Johnson Matthey said.

All three metals are used in catalytic converters fitted to vehicle exhausts to reduce harmful engine emissions. Johnson Matthey is a leading autocatalyst manufacturer.

It said its numbers for 2020 were preliminary estimates.