Understanding Platinum
Platinum is both a precious metal and an important industrial material. Learn where it is used, how it reaches the market and why its price does not necessarily move like gold or silver.
What is platinum?
Platinum is a naturally occurring chemical element with the symbol Pt. It is a dense metal that resists corrosion and can help certain chemical reactions take place without being consumed in the process. That ability makes platinum useful well beyond jewellery and bullion.
Platinum belongs to a family called the platinum group metals. Other members include palladium and rhodium. They are distinct metals with different uses and prices, even though they can occur together in mineral deposits.
Where is platinum used?
Vehicles
Platinum is used in catalytic converters that help reduce harmful exhaust emissions from many petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles.
Industry
Its properties support applications in chemical production, glass manufacturing, medical technology and other industrial processes.
Jewellery and investment
Platinum is made into jewellery and can also be owned as bullion bars or coins. These forms have different purposes and costs.
Where does platinum come from?
Platinum supply comes from mines and from recycling existing products. Mining is concentrated in a relatively small number of regions, with Southern Africa particularly important. Recycling includes recovering platinum from used catalytic converters and jewellery.
Mining and refining platinum take time. Changes in vehicle production, industrial demand, recycling and mining conditions can therefore affect the balance between supply and demand.
How is platinum different from gold and silver?
All three can be owned as physical bullion. Their markets, however, have different demand drivers. Gold has substantial jewellery, investment and central bank demand. Silver has significant industrial demand. Vehicle manufacturing and other industrial activity play an especially important part in the platinum market.
A metal being rarer than another does not mean it must have a higher price. The price of each metal reflects its own supply, demand and trading conditions, which change over time.
Key point: Platinum's industrial importance does not guarantee a return for someone who buys it. Its market price can rise or fall, and the costs of buying, storing and selling physical platinum also matter.
How can someone own platinum?
Physical platinum is available in investment bars and coins. Buyers should check a product's weight, purity and total purchase price. If metal is stored by a provider, they should also understand the ownership and storage terms.
The next lesson explains weight, purity and bullion forms across all three metals, so you can read a product description more confidently.