The spot price of platinum on Wednesday climbed to an all-time high of $1 060,50 an ounce on fund-buying of the metal, analysts said.
At 4.50pm, platinum was quoted at $1 058/oz, up $9/oz from the previous close.
Fund interest was largely based on platinum’s more constructive fundamentals, relatively low inventories and the strong upward momentum, London-based Barclays analysts wrote on Wednesday.
Platinum appeared to be boosted by fund interest in precious metals, with gold at $564/oz and close to its recent long-term high, but there was nothing specific that had taken platinum higher, said London-based Virtual Metals analyst Matthew Turner.
Virtual Metals is a little bearish about platinum as the consultancy is expecting greater substitution of platinum by palladium both in the jewellery sector and auto makers, he added.
However, the car makers have been living with the high price differential between platinum and palladium for quite a while, Turner stated.
Palladium was last quoted at $278/oz, up $3,50/oz from the metal’s previous close.
The substitution is likely to take place in the medium term, but in the short term platinum has some more upside, Turner said.
Virtual Metals has forecast a high for 2006 of $1 080/oz, but that is looking a bit low, he added.
A supportive factor for platinum was the rand, which was last quoted at R6,0168 to the dollar from late trade on Tuesday of R6,0250, he noted.
South Africa is the world’s largest producer of platinum, making up more than 75% of global supply. — I-Net Bridge