Platinum's demand is dominated by autocatalysts, particularly for diesel engines, with jewellery and industrial uses behind it. Supply is extraordinarily concentrated: South Africa produces roughly three quarters of it, so power cuts or strikes at a handful of mines move the price.
The platinum-gold relationship is widely traded. Platinum historically traded above gold on scarcity grounds, then spent years below it as diesel demand collapsed after 2015 — a reminder that a long-run relationship can invert and stay inverted.
Example: platinum at $980 is $49,000 per contract. A $25 move is $1,250. Against gold at $2,400 the ratio is 0.41, far below the parity that held for most of the twentieth century.
Related: palladium-futures, gc, comex, intercommodity-spread, troy-ounce