May 12, 2026 8:20 AM
JAKARTA – Ivanhoe Mines founder Robert Friedland said on X that China is aggressively buying up global platinum supplies and bringing them into the country on a large scale.
“China is pulling platinum into the country hard,” Friedland wrote on X on Monday (11/5).
A major refinery in China, he added, has reported a surge in demand for physical delivery under platinum contracts traded on the newly launched Guangzhou Futures Exchange.
Speculators and industrial users are increasingly choosing physical delivery rather than closing short positions, seeking to benefit from premiums above London spot prices.
Global prices have more than doubled over the past year, while inventories remain tight — around 600 kilogrammes compared with 14.4 tonnes of open interest for the benchmark June contract. Export restrictions from Beijing have further tightened international supply.
Long-term supply contracts are now increasingly in demand. Platinum has become the centre of attention.
Meanwhile, Friedland said the Platreef mine owned by Ivanhoe Mines in South Africa — one of the world’s largest platinum group metals (PGM) development projects — is ramping up production “to help meet this growing global demand”.
Ivanhoe’s three main projects
Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on developing and operating world-class critical mineral deposits across Africa.
The company oversees three highly strategic flagship projects:
- The Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the world’s fastest-growing and highest-grade copper mines.
- The Platreef project in South Africa, which produces platinum group metals, nickel and gold.
- The high-grade Kipushi zinc mine.
As founder of Ivanhoe Mines, Robert Friedland has positioned the company as a key supporter of the global energy transition through the supply of base metals extracted under high sustainability standards and with low carbon emissions.
In operational terms, the company has recorded growth, with copper production capacity continuing to expand as it seeks to become one of the world’s largest producers.
By mid-2026, Ivanhoe Mines has continued strengthening its position through extensive exploration in the Western Forelands region to identify new reserves and meet surging commodity demand from Asian markets, particularly China.
Through strategic partnerships with CITIC Metal and Zijin Mining, Ivanhoe Mines has become not only a major force in the extractive sector, but also a key player in the geopolitics of securing strategic mineral supplies worldwide. (DK/MT/ZH)
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