The first platinum and hydrogen summit successfully concluded industrial linkage brought about the next investment tuyere

SMM News: on May 24, the 2019 Platinum and hydrogen Industry Summit, with the theme of 'Science and Technology Metal to build the Future,' was held at the China Financial Information Center in Pudong, Shanghai. As the first joint effort between platinum and the domestic hydrogen energy industry, the conference was co-sponsored by the World Platinum Investment Association (WPIC) and Anglo American Group. It brings together leading enterprises including platinum industry chain, hydrogen energy and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at home and abroad, Paul Wilson, chief executive officer of (WPIC) of the World Platinum Investment Association, and precious metals market expansion Benny Oeyen, executive general manager of Anglo American Group. Deng Weibin, head of (WPIC) China of the World Platinum Investment Association, Zhang Yongtao, Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Gold Council, Dr. Philipp Walter, head of Global R & D and Innovation of Holly Precious Metals Division, SACHIN PATEL, senior director of the Asia-Pacific metal products department of Zizhang Institute, Ali lzadi, head of global intelligent travel research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and other front-line well-known celebrities. Hundreds of people came to attend. Today, when platinum is greatly bullish on its investment prospects because of the tuyere of hydrogen energy, this cross-border industry event of platinum and hydrogen energy enterprises has attracted much attention from all sides.

The convergence of platinum and hydrogen energy in the century, detonating the next much-anticipated investment tuyere

Paul Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, (WPIC), World Platinum Investment Association

In his opening speech, Paul Wilson, chief executive of (WPIC), the World Platinum Investment Association, said that in addition to using hydrogen energy to reverse the trend of global warming and change the environment and the future of the planet, the platinum and hydrogen energy summit hopes to use hydrogen energy to reverse the trend of global warming and change the environment and the future of the planet. It is also hoped that more people will understand the investment value of platinum as a precious metal and highly value the strategic cooperation between the World Platinum Investment Association and the China Gold Association. Zhang Yongtao, vice president and secretary general of the China Gold Association, said that the China Gold Association and the World Platinum Investment Association signed a strategic cooperation agreement this time. More in-depth cooperation will be carried out in the platinum market information sharing, platinum investment product promotion, platinum industry important activities and so on. China Gold Association Platinum Branch will continue to give full play to its platform advantages and industry appeal in the field of precious metals, together with the World Platinum Investment Association and other platinum market colleagues to promote the sustained, rapid and healthy development of China's platinum market!

At the conference, guests had an in-depth and constructive discussion on the issue of hydrogen energy industry and platinum. Trevor Raymond, Director of Research at (WPIC), World Platinum Investment Association, shared the WPIC Platinum Quarterly Bulletin (2019, Q1) and Platinum Investment Logic. He pointed out that due to the reduction in the supply of platinum minerals in South Africa as a result of power outages and strikes, the warming of the market share of diesel vehicles in Western Europe has increased the demand for platinum in the automotive sector. Coupled with the possibility of platinum replacing palladium in gasoline vehicles as a result of the sharp rise in palladium prices, as well as the use of platinum as a catalyst in hydrogen fuel cells, these demand prospects suggest that platinum investment prospects are promising in 2019.

Anglo American Group Executive General Manager Precious Metals Market Development Benny Oeyen

Anglo American Executive General Manager Precious Metals Market Development Benny Oeyen spoke on the theme of market development in support of the platinum group metals mining industry. He pointed out that a large part of the demand for platinum comes from the automobile industry, the jewelry industry, the industry, and a small part is the demand for investment, which now has new characteristics. There are huge trends in demand, such as the demand for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as a key catalyst, as well as in air purification, cancer treatment, water purification and other new applications. He noted that (PGMs) Mining's market development initiatives over the past few decades had ensured long-term sustainable growth in demand for platinum group metals. The mining industry promotes platinum jewelry, encourages investment in physical platinum and encourages the use of platinum group metals to stimulate joint ventures in the production process. China is an important market for platinum group metals. Vigorously promoting and investing in the hydrogen energy economy will benefit everyone. Importantly, the use of platinum in fuel cell vehicles around the world is on the agenda. China's hydrogen energy economy and platinum market contain great opportunities and vitality, and the future development is likely to lead the world.

Dr. Philipp Walter, Global head of R & D and Innovation, Hershey's Precious Metals Division

Holly gave a speech on the theme of platinum group metals in the hydrogen energy economy. He said that platinum group metal (PGMs) is an important material in the field of catalysis, and it is becoming more and more important as an electrochemical catalyst for proton exchange membrane electrolysis and fuel cell. Although accurate figures are difficult to predict, the impact of the hydrogen economy on the platinum group metal (PGMs) market should not be underestimated. China will play a leading role in the hydrogen economy.

The firm spoke on what role CME plays in the platinum industry, what value it provides to its customers, and in particular what kind of solution it provides to customers in the Asia-Pacific region. He pointed out that the platinum industry is at an important crossroads, full of uncertainty and opportunities, attracting renewed attention from hedge funds and investors, and there have been signs that the platinum investment market is recovering since the beginning of the year. Money is pouring into (ETF), an exchange-traded fund backed by physical platinum, and data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also show that investors are optimistic about platinum. Hedge funds have been holding net long positions for some time since the end of February. In addition, wage negotiations in South Africa this year have increased the risk of disruptions in platinum supplies, leading to a rise in platinum prices, but they are still in a low value compared with other precious metals, attracting investors to be bullish on platinum's future investment potential.

In an interview after the meeting, Paul Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of the World Platinum Investment Association (WPIC), gave a presentation on the functions of the World Platinum Investment Association. He said that in 2014, six global platinum mining leaders co-founded the World Platinum Investment Association in South Africa, and WPIC is a leading international organization that provides platinum market research and analysis and platinum investment insights. WPIC works with financial institutions and precious metal products companies to open up platinum investment channels to develop platinum investment products suitable for local investors. WPIC's mission in the Chinese market is to clarify the investment characteristics of platinum, to provide investors with in-depth and comprehensive international platinum market analysis, to assist domestic institutions to expand platinum investment products and channels, and to promote the development of China's platinum investment market.

Deng Weibin, head of (WPIC) China at the World Platinum Investment Association, described his strategic plan in China. He pointed out that the conference to "science and technology metals, build the future" as the theme, hand in hand with domestic hydrogen energy, actively explore the linkage between platinum and hydrogen energy industry. Through our insight into the Chinese market over the past year, we have seen the limitless possibilities of platinum in the future of the hydrogen energy fuel cell vehicle industry. The development of China's hydrogen energy industry is in full swing, which has also laid a good and solid foundation for the medium-and long-term development of platinum. We have reason to believe that platinum, as an environmentally friendly, scientific and technological metal, In the future, it will also better serve the development of hydrogen energy fuel cell vehicle industry. In the future, WPIC will continue to start with the physical and financial investment of platinum, and cooperate with domestic institutions to develop and promote platinum investment products suitable for national conditions, so as to meet the investment needs of Chinese platinum investors.

Benny Oeyen, executive general manager of Anglo American, said Anglo was a diversified global mining company with a world-class mining portfolio, including platinum. Anglo American is actively involved in working with industry leaders around the world and in China to promote the development and commercialization of hydrogen energy and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to drive demand for platinum in new areas. The company is actively committed to raising awareness among policy makers and other stakeholders through direct participation and indirect support for global, national and regional trade associations in China, Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom. At the same time, the company also believes that China has great potential for the growth of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, especially commercial vehicles, a technology that provides a promising market for platinum. The prospect of platinum investment in the future is worthy of investors' attention again.

The pulling effect of hydrogen fuel cell is remarkable, and it has become the key push hand of platinum investment.

At present, platinum is widely used in automotive, industrial, jewelry and investment fields. According to statistics, platinum has the highest proportion of applications in the field of automotive catalysts, accounting for 37% to 41% of the total demand, followed by jewelry consumption, accounting for 30% of the total demand for platin. the proportion of applications in industrial uses accounts for 20% of the total global demand. Platinum investments range from 2% to 11%.

In terms of specific dosage, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles also have the highest amount of platinum. At present, the commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles of the first echelon car companies such as Toyota use an average of about 0.17g/kW per vehicle (about 20g/ vehicles). Of course, as technology advances, this target will be further reduced, and according to the US Energy Administration's target, bicycle platinum consumption will be as low as 0.125g/kW (about 14.7g/ vehicles) by 2020. This content is still higher than the traditional diesel vehicle consumption.

The rapid development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in recent years has also brought about a rapid increase in the marginal increment of platinum demand. According to statistics, about 6000 fuel cell passenger vehicles were sold worldwide in 2017, and less than 1.2 tons of platinum was used as a catalyst. Assuming that the global fuel cell vehicle penetration rate can reach 1 per cent in 2030 (the number of passenger vehicles in the world is calculated on the basis of 105 million vehicles), the platinum consumption of bicycles will reach 18.38tons on the basis of 17.5g platinum consumption. Accounting for 7.4% of the global platinum demand in 2017, the pulling effect on platinum is very significant.

The analysis of platinum supply and demand shows that the investment prospect in the next 5-10 years will continue to be good.

As a unique metal, platinum has both industrial and precious metal characteristics. From an investment point of view, platinum has proved to be a valuable diversification in the portfolio; It can effectively increase the Sharp ratio of a stock / bond portfolio by 6 to 4 cents, even if there is already a gold position in the portfolio. In addition, unlike other well-known metals such as gold and silver, platinum has a wide range of uses and applications. As a result, industry insiders believe that the current investment value of platinum is undervalued.

From the demand point of view, the current palladium market shortage is serious, palladium prices skyrocketed. This upside-down phenomenon will not be ruled out will push platinum to replace palladium and return to the gasoline vehicle catalyst market. In addition, the European diesel vehicle market, affected by the Volkswagen emissions scandal, has begun to pick up. According to statistics, in January 2019, the market share of diesel vehicles in Europe rebounded to 35.2% from 33.8% in September 2018, indicating that the diesel vehicle market is gradually coming out of the shadow of Volkswagen emissions. In the future, the development of European diesel vehicle market is likely to be higher than currently expected, and the demand for platinum group metals will stabilize. Thirdly, because of the advantages of "zero emission, supporting heavy load, long range, fast fuel replenishment speed and high combustion efficiency", hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have become the "new favorite" of the new energy vehicle industry. Countries around the world have issued policies to support the development of this industry, it is expected that in the next 5 to 10 years, the fuel cell vehicle industry will replicate the rapid development path of the battery electric vehicle industry. The rise of this new industry will greatly boost demand for platinum.

On the supply side, 80 per cent of platinum is produced in South Africa. Low platinum prices over the past few years have had a serious impact on the operations of major mines in South Africa, high-cost mines have been closed, capital investment in old and new mines is insufficient, and South African mines are at risk of production cuts in the coming years. In other words, the risk of long-term supply constraints of platinum is underestimated, while the risk of falling demand is overestimated. Therefore, in the next five to 10 years, the investment prospects of platinum are very worthy of the attention of people in the industry.

However, due to the high catalytic speed of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, there is no alternative product except platinum as a catalyst. At present, the annual platinum production in the world is only 5% of that of gold, only about 200 tons, and 30% is used for platinum jewelry, leaving a limited amount for new applications. However, relevant industry insiders believe that with the future development, the problem of platinum supply in the future can be solved. The great development of hydrogen fuel vehicles will have a far-reaching impact on the market and investment value of platinum.