Platinum is one of the rarest traded precious metals, with annual mine supply concentrated overwhelmingly in South Africa's Bushveld Complex, supplemented by Russian and Zimbabwean production. Its price benchmark is set via the London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM).
Platinum's primary industrial use is in autocatalysts for diesel engines, which link its price closely to the health of the European diesel vehicle market. A growing secondary driver is hydrogen fuel cell technology, where platinum is used as a catalyst.
Key Platinum Price Drivers
- South African supply risk — power shortages and labour action in the Bushveld mining belt
- Diesel vehicle demand — Europe's diesel autocatalyst market remains platinum's largest end-use
- Platinum-palladium substitution — automakers substitute between the two metals based on relative price
- Hydrogen fuel cell adoption — an emerging long-term demand driver
- Jewellery demand — particularly in China and Japan
- Investment flows — platinum ETFs and bar/coin demand