I last wrote about platinum on Barchart in late December, when I concluded:
Platinum’s price could offer compelling value as it consolidates around the $1,000 per ounce level. At an over $1,650 discount to gold, platinum is a rarer metal with many industrial applications. Time will tell if platinum can break out above the $1,200 technical resistance level in 2025. A move above that level could lead to an explosive rally, causing platinum to catch up with gold, its precious cousin.
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On December 23, 2024, nearby NYMEX platinum futures were at $946 per ounce. In February, the price was higher, just above $1,000.
Platinum’s pivot point remains at $1,000
Platinum has been trading around the $1,000 pivot level for years.
The ten-year monthly NYMEX platinum futures chart highlights the sideways trading pattern since mid-2021. While platinum futures have traded as high as nearly $1,200 and as low as around $800 per ounce, most of the trading volume has been at the $1,000 level.
A rally and bullish trend since late December 2024
While the longer-term trend has been sideways, platinum futures’ short-term path of least resistance has turned bullish.
The six-month daily chart of April NYMEX platinum futures shows a pattern of higher lows and higher highs since late 2024. April platinum’s ascent has taken the price 17.2% higher from the December 31 $907.40 low to the February 13 $1,063.80 high. At near the $1,000 level in late February, platinum futures are closer to the most recent high.
Platinum offers value as gold and silver rally
Platinum is an industrial precious metal with many applications. It is also an ornamental metal that jewelers employ, and it has a history as a store of value and an investment asset.
Gold and silver are investment assets with long histories as means of exchange. Gold has risen to a new record high above $2,900 per ounce in February 2025, and silver is trading over the $32.50 per ounce level. Platinum’s all-time peak was in 2008 at $2,308.80, well below gold’s present price. Platinum is inexpensive compared to gold and it is a far rarer commodity. Annual gold production is around 3,000 metric tons, while platinum output from mines is over sixteen times less at approximately 180 tons. Platinum mine supply comes primarily from South Africa, with Russia as the second-leading producing country. Gold production is not as geographically concentrated. Gold and silver are highly liquid in physical and futures markets, while platinum is far less liquid in the physical and futures arena.
The bottom line is that technical and fundamental factors confirm that platinum is historically inexpensive compared to its precious cousins at the current price level.
Levels that could confirm a breakout
If platinum’s trend since the end of 2024 is the beginning of a move that will take it higher and reduce its discount to gold and silver, the lower liquidity could support an explosive move.
The quarterly continuous NYMEX platinum futures chart illustrates a narrowing price pattern since the 2020 low, with lower highs and higher lows. Narrowing price action is a consolidation pattern that tends to give way to a significant price move. Think of the narrowing wedge as a rubber band that stretches to a point where the tension causes a snap or break. When platinum snaps, the price could become highly volatile. The price action in gold and silver suggests that the snap will come on the upside. The critical technical resistance level that a herd of buyers could descend on the platinum market is at the Q1 2021 $1,348.20 high. Below that level, the price that will end the pattern of lower highs currently stands at the Q4 2024 $1,105 per ounce peak.
The PPLT and PLTM ETFs have moved higher since late December
The most direct route for a risk position in platinum is the physical market for bars and coins. However, platinum’s rarity causes physical metal to trade at significant premiums to spot and futures prices. NYMEX platinum futures are active but considerably less liquid than the COMEX gold and silver futures. The platinum ETF products holding physical platinum bullion are alternatives for investors and traders seeking exposure to the inexpensive precious metal. NYMEX April platinum futures have rallied 17.2% from the late December low to the most recent early February high.
Over the same period, the Aberdeen Physical Platinum ETF product (PPLT) moved 11.1% higher from $82.35 to $91.50 per share. At $89.61, PPLT has over $1.068 billion in assets under management and trades an average of over 176,000 shares daily. PPLT charges a 0.60% management fee.
The GraniteShares Platinum Shares ETF product (PLTM) moved 11% higher from $8.72 to $9.68 per share. At $9.48, PLTM had over $51.9 million in assets under management and trades an average of around 86,600 shares daily. PLTM charges a 0.50% management fee.
One drawback of PPLT and PLTM is that the ETFs only trade when the U.S. stock market operates, while platinum futures and physicals trade around the clock. The ETFs can miss highs or lows during off-stock market hours.
As platinum consolidates around the $1,000 level, making lower highs and higher lows, it is inexpensive compared to gold and silver. While the precious metal continues to consolidate in early 2025, it could be a matter of time before the rare metal catches up with its precious cousins, making 2025 a platinum bonanza for investors and traders who realize the metal is on sale at the current price level.
