Platinum (XPT/USD)

Platinum is a very rare precious metal with a much more limited supply and higher extraction cost than gold and silver. These factors make platinum much more valuable than the other two metals and add it to the list of safe-haven assets.

However, platinum’s exchange rate depends on slightly different factors and doesn’t reflect its true value – it is often traded at a much lower price than gold. 

While gold prices depend on market sentiment a lot, platinum relies almost entirely on supply and demand. Here are the main factors that play a role in it:

• Very limited supply
  Almost the entire supply of platinum – 70% – comes from a single country, South Africa, with Russia taking another 15% of its mining. This makes platinum a very risky and unreliable investment, as any economic or political instability in these two volatile countries affects supply drastically.


• Volatile demand
  Platinum is primarily used by the automotive industry, so the metal’s price is highly dependent on its demand. When manufacturers replaced platinum with palladium, which is much easier to get, the demand dropped significantly, affecting the price as well. On the other hand, platinum is becoming increasingly popular in jewellery production. Its demand from China and India, the two most populous countries in the world, has grown rapidly, which may affect platinum’s price in the nearest future.