How To Fix South Africa’s Platinum Industry

Reuters reported on the problems and potential fixes to South Africa’s platinum industry.

As quoted in the market news:

Platinum looks like a commodity from hell, and not just because it is dug from especially deep mines. The economics and the politics point to a long crisis.

Since August, labour strife has gripped the South African platinum industry, the source of 80 percent of a metal used in car exhausts. Workers want higher pay, to compensate for dangerous work. Unrest that started at world number-three producer Lonmin has spread. Two weeks of wildcat strikes have shut up to 30 percent of daily production at Amplats, the world’s largest platinum miner.