The fall in platinum prices has forced several large mining groups to restructure over the past two years in South Africa. Well closures, job losses… The Sibanye Stillwater company had to let go of 12,000 of its 80,000 employees. “From 2023, we have seen a drop in the prices of these raw materials, the main platinumoids which are platinum, palladium and rhodium,” explains Charl Keyter, financial director of the group. And I think a lot of that is because of the widely held view that everyone is going to move to electric vehicles. »
Platinoids victims of the success of the electric car
These platinoids are in fact mainly used in the automobile industry, to make catalytic converters for thermal cars. The Covid-19 pandemic, then the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the second largest producer of these metals, had pushed many manufacturers to stock up with South African mines, causing prices to explode.
“During Covid, we saw the price of platinum group metals rise to levels never imagined. Up to three times higher than their previous historical record, recalls Peter Major, sector analyst. Now that these prices have fallen and returned to more normal levels, this puts the industry under great pressure, as there have been big wage increases, large investment projects, and very expensive acquisitions at the moment. stranger. »
Hopes in the hydrogen car
Prices now appear to have stabilized, and these mining companies are relieved to see renewed interest in hybrid cars. But they continue to hope that the ecological transition will work more in favor of hydrogen vehicles, which require platinoids.
“We really think that hydrogen is an interesting energy source and that it will develop over the next decade,” said Craig Miller, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, the world’s leading platinum producer. The role that platinoids can play is first of all in the production of hydrogen, and in the longer term – not at the moment – in fuel cell cars. »
An optimism that a certain number of analysts do not share, given the slow progress, over the past 30 years, of technologies using hydrogen.
