Autocatalysts, jewellery, industry. The contract it trades on, who produces it, the figures its price is set against, how to get exposure, and how far its price fell from its highs in five years.
Verified figures, not advice. Contract terms, production, stocks and fund costs come from the exchange, government agencies and fund issuers named beside each figure, read on 14 Oct 2026. A figure we could not verify is shown as "not verified"; a figure we worked out ourselves is marked "computed". We do not say where a price is going or whether to buy. Commodity funds and futures can lose more than you expect. Found a mistake? Tell us and we correct it.
Source: cmegroup.com. Read on 2026-10-14.
Price alone does not say whether a commodity is dear or cheap. Stocks, balances and costs show how tight or loose the market is. We list them as published, with the date.
What it measuresFigureAs ofSource
WPIC platinum market balance, 2026 forecast
Surplus of 265 (2026f); Q2 2026 surplus of 244 thousand troy ounces (koz)
WPIC Platinum Quarterly Q2 2026 (file dated 2026-09-09)
WPIC platinum market balance, 2025 (revised)
Deficit of 1,440 koz
WPIC Platinum Quarterly Q2 2026
WPIC above-ground stocks, forecast year-end 2026 (2025: 1,745)
2,010 koz
WPIC Platinum Quarterly Q2 2026
From Oct 2021 to Sep 2026 the front-month futures price of Platinum changed by +67.0%. The path matters as much as that end result: the deepest fall below a previous high was -34.5%, from Feb 2026 to Jun 2026 (4 months).
It has not climbed back to that earlier high.
At the end of Sep 2026 it was 28.0% below its highest month-end (Feb 2026).
Time spent more than 20% below its high: 5 of 60 months.
Among the 14 commodities with a chart here, the median deepest fall was -49.0%. Platinum ranks 12 of 14 from deepest, so its fall was shallower than the median.
A second, independent series (abrdn Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT) closing prices, Nasdaq; month-end) gives a deepest fall of -34.2%, a gap of 0.3 points from ours, with the low point 0 months apart. We take the two as agreeing.
How we made this: month-end settlement prices of the front-month futures contract from Yahoo Finance, read on 14 October 2026, checked against a second source as described above. A front-month series jumps when the contract changes, so it is not the return of any fund. The figures and the chart are our own calculation; we do not republish the raw prices.
ProductStructureAnnual costSource
WisdomTree Physical Platinum
PHPT (LSE, USD), WisdomTree Metal Securities Limited
Physical: ETC backed by allocated platinum held by HSBC Bank plc (debt security)
0.49%
abrdn Physical Platinum Shares ETF
PPLT, abrdn (Aberdeen)
Physical platinum (per fund name; issuer page not read)
not verified
Futures roll. Physically backed products such as PHPT hold allocated metal rather than futures, so they have no futures roll; roll yield only affects futures-based or swap-on-futures products. (wisdomtree.com)
Platinum is a small, thin market where swings in investment demand and the auto catalyst industry can outweigh the supply deficit or surplus headline, so the balance figure is revised often (2025 deficit was revised up by 249 koz).
A price move says what buyers paid, not what the commodity is worth. For what we mean by value, see What is value?
Questions people ask
What moves the price of Platinum?
Investment flows: WPIC forecasts net investment turning to disinvestment in 2026 (ETF outflows of 389 koz), the main reason a 2025 deficit flips to a 2026 surplus.
How can I get exposure to Platinum?
Through futures on NYMEX (CME Group), or through funds and exchange-traded products. Step 6 lists the ones we verified, with structure and cost. Funds that hold futures can differ from the spot price.
Why can a fund differ from the price I see?
A fund that holds futures must sell contracts about to expire and buy later ones. When the later ones cost more (contango) each roll can cost money; when they cost less it can add. A fund that holds the physical metal has no roll but pays storage and fees.