Platinum Market Outlook for Long Term Investors
Platinum prices have more than doubled in 2025, hitting a 17-year high around $1,700 per ounce, driven by tight supplies and strong demand from autos, jewelry, and industryhttps://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/Platinum-hits-17-year-high-as-tight-supply-doubles-price-in-2025,1792918.htmlhttps://www.cmegroup.com/newsletters/metals-options-update/metals-options-update-december-2025.html. This rally started late 2024 and kept climbing through the year, outpacing gold amid inflation worries and global tensionshttps://www.leadlagreport.com/p/platinums-perfect-storm-why-select.
The core reason for this surge is a big supply gap. In 2025, the market faces a deficit of 692,000 ounces, or 9 percent of yearly demand, as supply drops 2 percent to 7.1 million ounces while demand growshttps://platinuminvestment.com/files/954835/WPIC_Platinum_Quarterly_Q3_2025.pdf. South Africa, which produces most of the world’s platinum, struggles with power cuts, labor issues, and low investment in new mineshttps://www.leadlagreport.com/p/platinums-perfect-storm-why-select. Recycling is up a bit, especially from jewelry, but it cannot close the gap fullyhttps://platinuminvestment.com/files/954835/WPIC_Platinum_Quarterly_Q3_2025.pdf.
Demand stays robust across key areas. Cars use the most platinum in catalytic converters to cut emissions, and slower electric vehicle sales mean more need for these partshttps://www.leadlagreport.com/p/platinums-perfect-storm-why-selecthttps://www.aberdeeninvestments.com/en-us/investor/insights-and-research/commodities-the-year-that-was-the-year-that-could-be-2026. In China, jewelry buying has bounced back as people switch from pricey gold, and new futures trading there pulls in more metalhttps://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/Platinum-hits-17-year-high-as-tight-supply-doubles-price-in-2025,1792918.htmlhttps://www.aberdeeninvestments.com/en-us/investor/insights-and-research/commodities-the-year-that-was-the-year-that-could-be-2026. Other uses in electronics, chemicals, and hydrogen tech add to the pullhttps://www.leadlagreport.com/p/platinums-perfect-storm-why-select.
For long-term investors, these trends point to upside. Deficits have hit seven of the last 11 years, creating a structural shortage that high prices may not fix quicklyhttps://www.aberdeeninvestments.com/en-us/investor/insights-and-research/commodities-the-year-that-was-the-year-that-could-be-2026https://platinuminvestment.com/files/954835/WPIC_Platinum_Quarterly_Q3_2025.pdf. Prices sit $800 below inflation-adjusted peaks, and high lease rates signal spot market tightnesshttps://platinuminvestment.com/files/954835/WPIC_Platinum_Quarterly_Q3_2025.pdfhttps://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/Platinum-hits-17-year-high-as-tight-supply-doubles-price-in-2025,1792918.html. Broader factors like sticky inflation, big government deficits, and central bank caution boost appeal as a real asset alongside goldhttps://www.leadlagreport.com/p/platinums-perfect-storm-why-select.
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