Time To Buy? Platinum Not Worth Its Weight In Gold

Platinum, usually among the most precious of metals, isn’t even worth its weight in gold these days. Some analysts suggest it’s a good time to buy.

“If continued negative supply dynamics persist, the platinum price forecast for the next three months may see its rightful time on the throne in 2017,” the Lombardi Letter, which tracks precious metals, said Friday.

Platinum was trading at $964 an ounce on Friday, compared to $1,263 for gold, according to the Monex precious metals index.

Platinum is rarer than gold and is usually valued more highly, with the exception of periodic fluctuations. An oversupply in platinum production in South Africa is considered the main reason for the metal’s position as a value play.

Voices From The Street

Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly on Friday asked Ben Magara, the CEO of South African producer Lonmin PLC about a statement made by Bank of America Merrill Lynch last month that the platinum price would rally if producers cut supply by 300,000 to 400,000 ounces.

He said Lonmin exercised supply discipline by taking 150 000 oz of supply out of the market.

“As an industry, we need to go for it. We must be bold about cutting supply. The price is telling us that we’re in oversupply and we’ve got to react,” he said.

Not everybody agrees that platinum is a good buy. The journal Mining MX said the recovery is likely to be painful and slow, and noted that Goldman Sachs is still bearish on the metal's prospects.

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Are You Being Led By Sentiment In The Metals, Or Rising Above It? ________ Image Credit: Assortment of Platinum Nuggets, By Aram Dulyan (User:Aramgutang) - Own work, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons