While the meteoric rise in the gold price over the past year has been well-documented, the price of its fellow precious metal, platinum, has quietly outpaced its performance and is up nearly 75% in Australian dollar terms over the same period.
While the price of gold has been on a steady march higher over the past 12 months, the platinum price has traded sideways until about late May, when it started to shoot higher.
In Australian dollar terms, platinum is now changing hands for $2540.13 per ounce, up from $1452.95 a year ago, for a gain of 74.83%.
Image source: Getty Images
Politics and deficits driving price higher
A recent update from the World Platinum Investment Council explains why:
Rising prices were not unexpected given almost two and a half years of market deficits were being exacerbated by geographic demand dislocations as the US grappled with tariff concerns and China ramped up imports.
And the shortage of platinum supply is not expected to ease any time soon.
The Council's report says the global platinum market is expected to be in deficit to the tune of 850,000 ounces this calendar year, while the supply outlook remains depressed.
Mining supply is forecast to decrease by 6% year-on-year as producers will not be able to repeat the drawdown of work-in-progress inventory we saw in 2024. Notably, recycling supply is expected to increase by 6% year-on-year in 2025 with some evidence of higher platinum group metals prices supporting increased recycling.
The Council says that while supply deficits laid the groundwork for the increase in platinum prices, it was "arguably geopolitics and US tariffs" which triggered the price surge this year.
Security of supply appears to be a key theme which is emerging and with platinum markets forecast to remain in deficit while above ground stocks rapidly deplete, competition for metal will be high.
Aussie stocks to look at
So, how do you get exposure to platinum on the ASX?
The easiest way is by buying shares in major platinum miner Zimplats Holdings Ltd (ASX: ZIM), which has enjoyed a 26.2% share price gain over the past year, to value the company at about $2.1 billion.
Zimplats operates four underground mines, an open-pit mine, and various processing facilities, all located in Zimbabwe, and sold 613,337 ounces of platinum in FY25.
The company's stock hit a new high for the past 12 months this week, changing hands for $19.65.
At the junior end of the spectrum, you could look at Southern Palladium Ltd (ASX: SPD), which has seen a more than sevenfold increase in its share price over the past year, now trading at $1.37.
The company is developing its Bengwenyama Project in South Africa, where it has a 6.3 million ounce reserve of platinum group metals, and is conducting further drilling to support a definitive feasibility study for a mine.
Southern Palladium is currently valued at $146.5 million.
There is also Podium Minerals Ltd (ASX: POD), which has enjoyed a share price rise of more than 100% over the past month, to value the company at $86.9 million.
Podium is developing its Parks Reef project in Western Australia, where it has a resource of 7.6 million ounces of platinum group metals, and where it continues to drill.
Podium in early October announced it would raise $12 million at 6.4 cents per share; however, the company's stock is trading higher than that mark, currently changing hands for 9.9 cents apiece.
