The World Platinum Investment Council is pushing for new platinum products to lure Chinese investors into the metal, providing another source of demand for SA’s second-largest mineral export. Weibin Deng, China’s head at the council, which is financially backed by SA’s platinum producers to stimulate investment, outlined plans for coins, metal-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other products, targeting the country’s burgeoning middle class.

With faltering Chinese jewellery sales, which have fallen from a 2013 peak of 2-million ounces to 1.3-million ounces in 2017 while showing signs of a further decline in 2018, a fresh demand in one of the world’s most important economies is critical. The council was targeting the banks as a conduit for retail and investor buying of platinum products, which it was developing with a range of players in the market, Deng said. “The banking sector is the biggest precious metal investment market for investors,” he said. About 60% of gold-bar...

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