The platinum spot price surged to a three-month high on Tuesday‚ pushing the JSE platinum stock index to a nine-month high‚ amid potential supply constraints after Anglo American Platinum (AMS‚ Amplats) said it was putting four shafts at its Rustenburg complex onto care and maintenance.
Amplats‚ the world’s largest producer of the metal‚ has also earmarked its Union mine for sale in a move to restructure the business‚ affecting about 14‚000 jobs.
“The review of Amplats’ operations means there will be less platinum in the market than before. The market is pricing in potential supply constraints with other big players likely to follow in the Amplats footsteps‚” said Rob Towell‚ senior equities trader at Consilium Securities.
At 11.26am‚ the platinum spot price was up 2.67% to US$1‚695oz‚ the highest level since October last year‚ while platinum index rallied 2.16% and the all-share gained 0.12%. - I-Net Bridge