SA fails to fill platinum shortfall

Johannesburg - Platinum supply from South Africa, the world's biggest producer of the metal, is hovering around 12-year lows, Business Day reported on Wednesday.

UK-based refiner Johnson Matthey said on Tuesday the global platinum market would show a deficit of 605 000 ounces this year compared with last year's shortfalls of 340 000 oz.

Strong demand, particularly for industrial supply and investment, would outpace supply for the third year running and would result in the biggest deficit since 1999.

Platinum absorbed by the South African exchange-trade fund (ETF), which is backed by physical metal, is a key factor in fuelling demand.

The Absa platinum ETF is the largest such fund in the world, with more than 774 000 oz.

Johnson Matthey, GM of marketing and publication Jeremy Coombes, said by investing in the ETF investors are opting to put money into the metals, rather than the shares of companies producing platinum in a troubled and difficult mining environment.