Heraeus: Platinum prices will not rise in 2024

　　Sinochem New Network News On January 9, Weijia Lu, Head of Trading at Heraeus Precious Metals China, gave a forecast for gold and platinum prices in 2024. He expects that platinum prices may not be able to maintain their upward momentum in the new year due to reduced demand for catalysts.

　　Lu Weijia said that low platinum group metals prices have forced producers to cut costs, affecting platinum production. Ahead of the Christmas holidays, Anglo American announced plans to reduce the cost of operating and sustaining its operations by R10 billion over the next three years by rescheduling and postponing certain expansion projects and focusing on its most important assets. As a result, South Africa's platinum production is expected to fall slightly to 3.9 million ounces in 2024.

　　On the demand side, with the implementation of the Low Emission Zone plan in Europe, the demand for catalysts for diesel vehicles in Europe is likely to continue to decrease. As of November 2023, only 13.7% of all newly registered cars in the EU have a pure diesel powertrain. At the same time, the proportion of pure electric vehicles reached 14.2%, which is equivalent to about 1.4 million units. With light-duty and heavy-duty diesel vehicle catalysts collectively accounting for 70% of Western Europe's platinum catalyst demand, declining market share for light vehicles and lower orders for heavy-duty trucks could reduce demand for platinum catalysts in Europe by more than 5% this year to 760,000 ounces. In addition, low platinum group metals prices offset some of the demand for platinum. As a result, platinum prices cannot continue their upward momentum in 2024.