Despite considerable headwinds, CEO Paul Wilson said there are “pockets of platinum demand strength”, such as the industrial sector, where the use of platinum has quadrupled since 1980.
The metal’s conductivity makes it an ideal material in the production of hydrogen.
Wilson said, “The drive in Europe to reduce gas imports from Russia, as well as the recent passing of the US’s Inflation Reduction Act, places greater importance on the need for green hydrogen and provides further incentive for investment in the sector, which benefits platinum directly.”
PEM electrolysers operating on renewable energy could generate between 9 Mt and 29 Mt of green hydrogen per annum by 2030, dependent on the PEM portion (31%-96%) of all installations.
The council calculates that this range of hydrogen production displacing a combination of natural gas and internal combustion engine vehicles with FCEVs would result in cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) savings of between 0.24 Gt and 0.63 Gt.
Annual platinum demand in 2030 from FCEVs and electrolysers, dependent on the PEM portion, would be between 1.6 Moz and 2.4 Moz.
Industrial demand saw growth in the petroleum (+17%, +7 koz), medical (+8%, +5 koz), and other industrial (+16%, +21 koz) sectors during the second quarter, all of which are forecast to grow in 2022 as a whole.
Total platinum supply in 2022 is forecast to decline 8% (-626 koz) year-on-year to 7,514 koz.
Mining supply in the quarter was down 4% as an increase in Russian output, following a recovery from flooding in 2021, offset year-on-year declines in all other producing countries.