Platinum futures, traded on NYMEX under ticker PL, are the global benchmark for institutional platinum price discovery. The standard PL contract is 50 troy ounces priced in USD per ounce — so one contract represents approximately $50,000 of underlying exposure at typical 2026 prices. Platinum is one of the six platinum-group metals (PGMs); the others are palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium. Platinum and palladium are by far the most-traded PGMs.

Platinum has a dual personality similar to silver: roughly 40% of demand is industrial (primarily auto-catalyst applications in diesel vehicles, plus jewellery and electronics), and 30% is investment (bars, ETFs, central-bank reserves). South Africa accounts for roughly 70% of global platinum mine supply, making the metal uniquely sensitive to South African political stability, mine-labour disputes, and electricity-supply problems (Eskom load-shedding).

Platinum futures launched on NYMEX in 1956. Platinum has historically traded at a meaningful premium to gold — the metal is rarer (annual platinum production is only ~5% of annual gold production) and more difficult to extract. The premium peaked in 2008 when platinum traded above $2,300 vs. gold around $1,000. Since the 2015 'Dieselgate' emissions-cheating scandal collapsed diesel-vehicle demand in Europe (the primary platinum-autocatalyst end-market), platinum has traded at a discount to gold — a historical anomaly that has persisted for nearly a decade.

Major platinum  price episodes: 2008 peak of $2,308, 2008 GFC crash to $762, 2011 reflation peak of $1,918, 2015-2016 Dieselgate crash to $814, 2020 COVID spike of $1,336 in early 2021 followed by a multi-year decline to $850-1,000 range. Long-run underperformance vs. gold reflects the structural shift from diesel toward gasoline/EV powertrains.

NYMEX platinum trades the same Globex hours as gold. In IST:

Read platinum alongside three signals. First, South African mine-supply news — strikes, load-shedding incidents and accidents at the major Sibanye-Stillwater, Impala and Anglo American Platinum mines can drive 5-10% moves. Second, global auto-catalyst demand trends — particularly the diesel/gasoline mix in European vehicles. Third, the platinum/palladium ratio — when palladium gets too expensive (as it did in 2020-2022, reaching $3,400), auto manufacturers substitute platinum into catalytic converters, lifting platinum demand.

Long-run thesis: as the auto industry transitions to EVs (which don't need catalytic converters), traditional PGM demand will erode. The offset is hydrogen-fuel-cell technology, which uses platinum in PEM fuel-cell electrodes — but hydrogen-vehicle deployment has been slower than expected.