Platinum futures fell to the lowest in a week in New York after Lonmin Plc, the third-largest platinum producer, said demand for the metal from automakers, the biggest users, will decline. Palladium also slipped. The U.S. auto market, the world’s largest, contracted for the 18th consecutive month in April. Autos sales dropped to a 9.3 million annual pace from a 9.9 million rate in March. Most platinum and palladium is used in automotive pollution-control devices. “We anticipate ongoing short-term weakness in the sector and we are not planning for any significant recovery in platinum-group metal prices in the next 12 months,” London- based Lonmin said today in a report. Automotive demand accounts for about 55 percent of total platinum demand, Lonmin said. Platinum futures for July delivery fell $27.30, or 2.4 percent, to $1,119.80 an ounce at 9:33 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier touched $1,117, the lowest for a most-active contract since May 4. The metal advanced 4.6 percent last week. Palladium futures for June delivery fell $5.80, or 2.4 percent, to $236.50 an ounce. Palladium surged 13 percent last week, the biggest such gain since October. “The near- to medium-term outlook in the noble metals niche is cloudy with scattered bouts of selling,” Jon Nadler, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc. in Montreal, said today in a report. “Clearing is not expected for a while -- like 2012- ish.” Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest carmaker, fell the most in almost four months in Tokyo trading after cutting its annual dividend for the first time and predicting a second straight annual loss.

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