Due to ongoing supply concerns, platinum prices have surged more than 20% over the past three months, and the precious metal is now set to experience its best quarter since the start of 2009.
On Friday, platinum prices rose another 1.0% to $1,064.50 per ounce, bringing its quarterly gain to just under 23%.
Should the price of platinum maintain its 20% uptick, then this will will be the biggest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2008, when it gained a staggering 34%.
According to the World Platinum Investment Council, top consumer China has imported excessive amounts of platinum metal since 2019, which has left a limited above-ground supply for the rest of the world.
“This, in combination with higher prices likely being needed to release Chinese inventories to the domestic market, could have a significant bearing on platinum market price discovery,” the Council wrote in its Platinum Perspectives report in December.
The Council is anticipating a platinum deficit in 2023, with demand growing by 19% while supply increasing by just 2%.
“Despite international economic turbulence, with many countries already in, or expected to tip into, recession, industrial demand for platinum will be up 10% compared to 2022, which exceeds the 10-year average,” the WPIC said in a press release.
Demand for platinum in the automotive industry will also continue to grow next year, while jewelry-based demand for platinum is forecasted to remain constant throughout 2023, the WPIC added.
According to Reuters data, platinum is by far the best-performing precious metal in 2022, recording a year-to-date gain of 9%. Over the same period, gold has lost around 1%, silver up around 3% and palladium down 4%.
(With files from Reuters)
