FTSE/JSE Africa Platinum Mining Index Nears Seven-year Low

Mail & Guardian reported that the FTSE/JSE Africa Platinum Mining Index fell 1.2 percent, to 36.34, in Johannesburg today; if it ends the day at that level, it will be the lowest close since October 2005. The index includes six members, three of which are the world’s largest producers.

As quoted in the market news:

The price of platinum has slumped 7.1% this month, the most since May 2012.

‘Prices are at the mercy of poor demand for new vehicles as well as an inelastic supply of the metal,’ Ryan Wibberley, the head of equity dealing for frontier and emerging markets at Investec Asset Management, said by phone from Cape Town.

‘This imbalance might have been addressed by controlling output, but closure of mines is met with stiff resistance by both government and unions. With supply so hard to turn off in this country the best outlook for platinum lies in global economic recovery.’

Click here to read the full Mail & Guardian report.