Global Platinum jewelry production declines in 2014

New York (May 22)  Global platinum jewelry production declined by 3% year-on-year to 2.57 million ounces last year, marking the first decline in three years, as per Thomson Reuters' GFMS Platinum & Palladium Survey 2015.

According to the Survey, global jewelry scrap platinum increased 5% year-on-year last year, while palladium jewelry scrap increased 8% and jewelry demand fell for a sixth consecutive year, dropping 9% to 470,400 ounces.

The GFMS survey revealed that the platinum market recorded a production deficit in 2014, prior to inventory movement, of 1.02 million ounces, mainly due to significant workers strike action in South Africa. Platinum production plunged 21% year on year to a 15-year low of 4.7 million ounces, the report stated. Nonetheless, inventory remains abundant.

Palladium has held to a deficit since 2007; however, the imbalance turned more severe at 1.58 million ounces -- the largest in more than a decade, GFMS stated. Palladium production dropped 7% to 6.04 million ounces, which was a 12-year low.

GFMS anticipates that prices for platinum will average at $1,170 per ounce this year, a drop of 16% compared with the average for 2014, while the average price for palladium is forecast to remain the same year-on-year at $800 per ounce.

Source: BullionStreet