Platinum's outlook leans bearish, according to research published this week — with prices expected to stay subdued or drift lower over the next year and beyond.
The core argument from one camp of analysts is a structural demand problem. The accelerating shift to electric vehicles is steadily eroding autocatalyst demand, which has historically been platinum's biggest end-use. Jewellery buying remains soft on top of that.
Supply is actually tight — the published research acknowledges the market is likely to stay in deficit. But researchers argue that's not enough to offset the demand hit. Emerging uses in green energy and technology exist on paper, but the view is they're still too small to shift the trajectory.
Net takeaway from this thread of research: platinum likely stays range-bound or grinds lower, even with a supply shortfall in the background. A reminder that in commodities, a deficit doesn't automatically mean higher prices when the demand story is deteriorating underneath.