Platinum is trading at $1,661.89, up 0.26% today. Last updated 8:08 PM ET.
Platinum is one of the rarest of the precious metals — annual mine supply is roughly a tenth of the world's gold output — and trades with a hybrid character: part safe-haven, part industrial bellwether. About 40% of demand comes from autocatalysts (where platinum reduces emissions in diesel and hybrid powertrains), another 30% from jewelry, and the balance from chemical, glass, petroleum, and emerging hydrogen-economy applications. Production is overwhelmingly concentrated in South Africa's Bushveld Complex, with smaller contributions from Russia and Zimbabwe.
The most liquid US-listed platinum ETF is PPLT (Aberdeen Standard Physical Platinum Shares), with PLTM and SPPP as smaller physical-backed alternatives. Investors looking for equity leverage to the price can hold mining stocks like Sibanye Stillwater (SBSW) or Platinum Group Metals (PLG), which produce platinum alongside its sister metal palladium. Platinum prices have historically tracked the industrial cycle more closely than gold's.