Mitsubishi says outlook for Platinum remain favorable

UNITED STATES June 03 2014 2:34 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): Mitsubishi said that the outlook for platinum remains favorable. An effort by South Africa’s new mining minister to reach a settlement in a four-month-old strike has failed, the firm points out.

A resolution to the dispute in the near-term still appears unlikely. Meanwhile, concerns over electricity supplies in South Africa re-emerged last week after utility Eskom announced it plans to supply an additional 400 megawatts of electricity to the mines, which is 20% less than that required to operate at full capacity, due to tight reserve margins going into the winter months.

“Although this is not a problem at present given that only around half of South African mining capacity is operational due to the strike, it may result in an even slower-than-expected ramp-up to full production once the strikes end,” said Mitsubishi.

“Platinum is currently just below the 23.6% retracement of it January to May move – we believe it could push higher again from here, supported by a solid underlying fundamental picture,” Mitsubishi added.