Platinum On The Rise!

Sept 4th 2012

A South African platinum mine that was the scene of deadly clashes between police and striking workers last month said Thursday that a "peace accord" had been signed with some parties.

However, key players, including the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and a group of miners representing the workers, have not yet signed, according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

The August 16 clashes at the Lonmin PLC platinum mine in Marikana, about two hours northwest of Johannesburg, left 34 people dead and 78 wounded, sparking national outrage.

"The company remains committed to reaching a sustainable solution to the problems at Marikana and pledges to do everything that it can to make this happen," said Simon Scott, acting chief executive for Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum producer.

Not sure I would want to buy anything on a rise due to a temporary supply disruption. Now if the disruption highlighted the difficultly in obtaining supply that might be different.

There is a 24 month oversupply currently in the market and this doesn't preclude the fact that China has a stockpile as well as Russia. I wouldn't be moving any money into Pt until next year, if Gold rises too much the Indians will be buying it for jewelry for sure causing the prices to bump up. An ETF would likely be a better call that a metals purchase though.

There was a couple Platinum producers announcing suspension of production yesterday.
Lonmin so far loss 50,000 ozt of Platinum due to the disruption so far and still haven't get back to production yet.

There may be a run up in price due to unrest in S.Africa coupling with the current QE3 & ECB action.
The question is how long this will last.

Price spikes like that are good times to sell if you can. It shouldnt last that long and once everyone figures out its not running out should settle back down

Indians are going to buy jewellery no matter what. You have to understand that it's part of their culture. Whenever it's not a holiday the price seems to drop a little.

Platinum is luxury and has been that way since the early 1900s. It holds its luster (MUCH) better than silver and is very dense.

Well, if you didn't like Pt at $1390, I can see why you would not like it even more at $1700!



Bah! They have their place in the world. If they fit your investing capability, why not make use of them? Anyone with a retirement plan that allows them to pick their own investments can do well with ETFs. PPLT is especially nice as it is a physical platinum ETF that is independently audited to maintain its 1:1 ratio of REAL Pt to claimed Pt... unlike some others out there. For some people, an ETF may be the only way they can invest a meaningful amount of money in metals. Just be sure to do your own due diligence before investing.

Hmmmm.... I'm guessing the strike has now been resolved or something? Platinum is down over $40 today.