THE global platinum market is forecast to be in its smallest deficit in three years this year, with South African mines recovering from last year’s strike.The newly established World Platinum Investment Council released supply and demand data for the fourth quarter of last year as well as projections for the year ahead.The deficit for this year was forecast to be 235,000oz of platinum, well down from last year’s 700,000oz deficit when large mines around Rustenburg were shut in a five-month wage strike.However, the forecast is predicated on a conservative estimate for investment demand of just 50,000oz for the entire year, compared with inflows of 135,000oz last year and 925,000oz the year before.Impala Platinum, one of the six founding companies behind the establishment of the council, released its own data last month, looking ahead to 2023, showing the market in an ever deepening deficit.From a shortfall of 805,000oz this year, Implats, the world’s second-largest platinum producer,...
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