Platinum

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.