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For decades, there has been a steady rise in prices for precious metals. Platinum, gold and silver are considered a source of receiving passive income today and this type of investment attracts millions of people. Platinum occupies the position of the most expensive and prestigious in the list of precious metals; it is a promising object for investment and the 10 year platinum chart can prove that. Platinum is the rarest precious metal compared to other major precious metals traded on futures exchanges and spot markets. It has characteristics that historically made it the most precious of all metals. Its definition as "the gold of a rich man" did not come out of thin air. Platinum has the highest production cost; the metal has many industrial uses since it is the densest metal out of the four and it has the highest melting and boiling point.

For decades platinum has been the most expensive metal. The annual gold production is more than 3000 tons and the annual platinum production is less than 200 tons. In this case, platinum has a much higher percentage of industrial use than gold. Nevertheless, platinum began to trade at a discount to gold at the end of 2014 and did not justify its title of "rich man's gold" for more than three years. At the same time, the supply of platinum did not increase and demand declined slightly. The average of the platinum and palladium prices compared to gold is a method to measure their historical price range together.

World resources of platinum are distributed extremely unevenly. South Africa accounts for 63 thousand tones out of their total proven volume of 66 thousand tons. Russia's reserves are just over 1,000 tones. Thus, if we consider the supply of platinum in the world market, it is determined, one might say, by one player - South Africa.


Ten years ago the troy ounce of platinum was estimated at $710-720. For a year and a half the price of the metal has grown steadily and has successfully overcome the "bar" of $1,000 per ounce in half a year. After small fluctuations in both directions, platinum rose sharply to $2,000 per ounce. However, by the end of the 2008 crisis, its value collapsed to the level of $850. Having reached the "bottom", the precious metal again began to increase for several years. In July 2014, the troy ounce was estimated at $1,500. From that moment the asset's price has almost constantly been decreasing. In early March 2015, the rate was $1,185 per ounce.

Events, trends and problems of platinum: the mining company PGM was sold to a mining company in South Africa in May 2017. As of October, PGM production was about the same as in 2016. Development and expansion of mines adjacent to the fields continued its progress; development was completed ahead of schedule and the first production was expected in the fourth quarter of 2017. The same mining company from South Africa also acquired other platinum mines in South Africa, which resulted in the company becoming the world's third platinum mining company. Large Russian and South African companies are now actively cooperating for developing deposits of solid minerals. They are interested in setting up joint enterprises and processing platinum group metals in South Africa. For a more successful business, companies exchange technologies and develop unified strategies and innovative ways of processing precious metals.

Other countries that also deal with the metal but in much smaller amounts are:

• Zimbabwe is in third place. The country processes about 9 tons of platinum per year. Russia and Zimbabwe have set up a joint venture for the Ruschrome Mining.
• USA is the fourth. Two largest mines in the state of Montana ("Stillwater" and "East Bouder",) are in possession of the "Stillwater Mining Co" monopoly. Every year, the amount of raw materials produced is growing, which allows the company to increase its supply network.
• Canada is in the fifth place. The largest companies are "North American Palladium" and "Sudbury Vale" supply about 6 tons of platinum group metals to the world market.

Average annual prices for iridium, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium increased by 55%, 39%, 51% and 45% respectively compared with 2016. The average annual price for platinum was 3% lower than in 2016 due to a decrease in demand for diesel cars which use platinum in catalytic converters and the increase in the palladium price is due to the increased demand for cars with a gasoline engine. The rise in prices for iridium and ruthenium was associated with an increase in industrial demand. In September, the price of palladium was higher than the price of platinum, which was not the case since 2001. It is expected that the introduction of more stringent emission standards for cars in some countries will increase the demand for palladium, platinum and rhodium for use in catalytic converters. The increase in car production in developing countries indicates the expected growth in demand for PGM after 2017.


Employees of the London Association of the precious metals market interviewed 35 analysts. Consensus-forecast was as follows: this asset will increase its value by 5.6%. Commerzbank predicts that the metal will finish next year at around $1,300 an ounce after a drawdown to $1,200 in the middle of the year. Analyst UBS Edel Tully believes that recently investors became tired of platinum. In his view, the price of it is insensitive to bad news from South Africa; the market does not react even to the aggravation of the situation in the mines. The stocks of ETFs have already fallen by 0.5% or 13,400 ounces.

The purchase of platinum is currently profitable for both speculative and investment purposes as can be seen in the platinum historical price chart. A serious drawback of metal accounts is the lack of compulsory insurance of such investments. Therefore, you need to select the bank with particular care since there is a risk of losing the funds invested.