Sector faces obstacles in helping platinum coin it
Persuading the government to pull two demand levers is proving difficult, writes Allan Seccombe
SA HAS two very obvious levers to pull to increase the demand for platinum and neither of them has yet been touched despite years of talks with the government to introduce a platinum coin and make the metal a reserve currency like gold, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) CEO Chris Griffith says. Like diamonds, platinum producers can influence demand, particularly because about 85% of primary production comes from SA, which has the world’s largest known deposits of platinum group metals. The industry has come under tremendous pressure in the past five years and supply shows no sign of returning to its peak of 5.6-million ounces a decade ago, with some companies such as Impala Platinum (Implats) forecasting 3-million ounces and below in the next few years. There is a forecast for slower growth in demand for diesel-fuelled vehicles, which use platinum as an exhaust catalyst, and an increase in recycling, which produces the equivalent of a large miner. Jewellery demand fluctuates in line...
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