Demand for Platinum:
The primary demand comes from the automotive industry, and with continuing tightening of emission standards worldwide, this trend will continue. Platinum is also used to catalyze the electricity-producing conversion of hydrogen and oxygen into water in hydrogen-based fuel cells, with water and heat the only emissions.
Platinum is particularly well suited as a fuel cell catalyst as it allows the hydrogen and oxygen reactions to take place at an optimal rate, while being stable enough to withstand the high electrical current density and the complex chemical reaction that take place in a fuel cell, performing efficiently over the long term.
Conclusion:
Platinum has been in an overall downtrend since 2008, with some brilliant roman-candle like moves in 2009 and 2016, only to burn out quickly and fall back to earth. However, we see this changing technically as platinum is breaking the downtrend that has been in for now more than 10 years. The biggest fundamental reason this may happen now is the palladium shortage, which may cause the substitution of palladium by platinum.
We feel industrial and investment demand will continue to drive platinum prices to higher levels over the next 9 to 18 months.
Jubilee Metals Group plc (LON:JLP) is a diversified metals recovery company, focusing on the reprocessing of historical mine waste and surface materials. Their projects in South Africa include the Hernic Platinum Project, DCM Platinum & Chrome Project and the PlatCro Platinum Project.
