There's no price just yet, but interested buyers can pick one up in China starting in mid-December.
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However, Fortescue said that it expected demand from China to pick up and provide a boost to iron ore prices.
The space cadets' other hope, China, might pick up the baton.
Analysts cited an expectation that automotive sales will pick up in the key markets of China and the U.S. Both markets tend to rely upon gasoline-powered vehicles than can use palladium in auto catalysts, whereas the European market relies more upon diesel-powered vehicles that need more-expensive platinum.
"October's final PMI rose to an eight-month high, implying that China's industrial activity continues to bottom out following a modest pick-up last month, " Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC, said in a statement.
Barclays pointed out in a report on China energy demand back in October that improving industrial activities and new refining capacity in China are fueling the pick up in demand.
With capacity thus constrained, a pick-up in demand from the likes of China could only lead to one result: higher prices.
He says that growth needs to pick up in the major export markets, like China and Europe, for U.S. companies to maintain earnings growth.
So, despite the enormous overhang of residential units in China, the betting is that construction will pick up soon.
But the pick-up near the end of the year could not prevent China from posting its slowest annual expansion in 13 years for 2012 as a whole, growing at 7.8%.
BBC: China manufacturing activity at two-year high, says HSBC
One of General Motors' first ventures, a factory making pick-up trucks, failed because the company did not realise that such vehicles in China are used to carry people as well as goods.
However, in recent weeks China has released a string of encouraging economic data which showed that a pick up in November continued into December.
While traditional markets in Europe continue to struggle with their debt crises, China and India will be only too happy to race on ahead and pick up the slack.
In 2008 and 2009 the loan books of emerging-market banks outside China grew relatively slowly, at about 10%, although in China they expanded by about 30%, and the pace elsewhere will pick up this year.
As China is the world's largest producer, it might be expected to pick up, say, half of that.
Mr Zhang added that the moves by China's central bank to ease its policies had also contributed to the pick-up in prices.
BBC: China home price rise indicates small rebound in demand
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