Precious metals

Platinum trading: catalysts, mine supply and thin liquidity

Platinum is an industrial precious metal. Autocatalysts, chemical uses and jewellery all take metal. Mine supply is geographically concentrated. The futures market is much smaller than gold, so liquidity is part of the risk.

Written by WiT Markets EditorialReview Editorially reviewedLast reviewed

Crystals of pure platinum grown by gas phase transport.
Periodictableru, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.

Market overview

Automotive demand depends on the mix of petrol and diesel engines and on how much platinum a catalyst recipe uses. Palladium can substitute in some of those recipes when the price gap is wide, so the two metals are linked and not identical.

Hydrogen applications are discussed as a possible use. They are not, on this page, treated as a measured share of today’s demand, because that share was not taken from a primary table.

What tends to move it

Autocatalyst loadings

Engine mix and chemistry decide how much metal a vehicle uses.

Substitution

A wide gap versus palladium can change the recipe.

Mine concentration

A disruption in a dominant producing region is a supply event.

Liquidity

Fewer contracts change hands. The price you deal can gap.

Ways to take the exposure

These are different legal positions. A platform may offer one and not the others. Nothing here is available in every country.

Futures

Listed, and thinner than gold. Read the contract month and the size on the exchange page.

Funds

A smaller menu than gold. Confirm the holding.

Mining shares

Often a basket of platinum-group metals, not pure platinum.

Physical metal

Possible and impractical for most brokerage accounts.

Contract specifications

CME Group

Contract unit, tick and margin are on the exchange page. They are not reprinted here.

Read the exchange page

Illustrative contract value

Enter the exchange’s price unit, contract size and tick value yourself. Nothing here is a live quote or a margin rate. The arithmetic is valid only when the price and the contract size use the units in that specification. If the contract quotes in cents or in an index, enter the price in that quote unit.

Illustrative notional
Enter the fields
One tick, selected contracts
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Selected tick movement
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What the costs usually are

Spreads are typically wider than in gold. That implicit cost can matter more than a commission schedule.

What a headline commission leaves out of the bill separates the commission from the spread, financing and other charges.

Risks that belong to this market

Gaps

A stop order is not a guaranteed fill in a thin book.

Concentration

Supply and demand are both narrow.

Equity mix

A platinum-group miner is not a platinum bar.

Providers in the commodities directory

The rows come from the existing commodities research note. No second provider list was created. No commercial relationship is recorded on these rows, so the button goes to the firm’s own site. This is not a ranking.

No provider is marked as confirmed for this commodity. A named row means the existing research note uses the commodity’s name. An oil row means the note says oil or crude without saying WTI or Brent. A group row means the firm was filed under the category only. Regions are mentions in that note, not a check that you can open an account.

AvaTrade logo

AvaTrade

Group listing only

Metals, energy and agricultural commodity CFDs depending entity

Pricing line. Spread-based; product/entity-specific fees

Platforms. WebTrader; AvaTrade app; MT4; MT5; AvaOptions

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
Capital.com logo

Capital.com

Group listing only

65+ commodity CFDs provider-stated across metals, energy and soft/agricultural markets

Pricing line. Spread-based, no commission on cited CFD proposition; other costs apply

Platforms. Capital.com web/mobile; TradingView; MT4/MT5 on current international page

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
C

City Index

Group listing only

Gold, oil and other commodity CFDs/spread bets by region

Pricing line. Spread-based; region/product-specific

Platforms. City Index Web Trader; mobile; MT4; TradingView in selected regions

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
CMC Markets logo

CMC Markets

Group listing only

Commodity CFDs across metals, energy and soft commodities; investing offering differs by region

Pricing line. Spread-based CFD pricing; investing fees region-specific

Platforms. Next Generation; MT4/MT5 in selected regions; mobile/web

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
DEGIRO logo

DEGIRO

Group listing only

Commodity ETFs/ETCs such as oil and precious-metals products; exchange products vary by market

Pricing line. Low-cost transaction model; product/exchange-specific fees

Platforms. Web; mobile

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
eToro logo

eToro

Group listing only

Gold, oil, copper and other commodities primarily via CFDs; commodity ETFs can offer non-CFD exposure

Pricing line. Spread/overnight/product-specific fees

Platforms. Web; mobile

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
FOREX.com logo

FOREX.com

Group listing only

A published range includes crude oil, natural gas, corn and metals.

Pricing line. Spread-based commodity CFDs; financing can apply

Platforms. FOREX.com proprietary; TradingView; MT5/MT4 depending region

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
FP Markets logo

FP Markets

Group listing only

Oil, gas, corn, sugar and precious metals among broader commodity CFDs

Pricing line. Spread/commission account structures

Platforms. MT4; MT5; cTrader; TradingView; IRESS in selected regions

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
IG logo

IG

Group listing only

Commodities including metals, energy and other markets mainly through CFDs/spread betting, plus region-specific investing products

Pricing line. Spread/commission by product/entity

Platforms. IG web/mobile; MT4 in selected regions; ProRealTime integrations

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
Interactive Brokers logo

Interactive Brokers

Group listing only

Energy, metals, agriculture and related commodity products via futures, ETFs/ETPs and metals

Pricing line. Product/exchange commissions + market-data fees; fund/ETF pricing varies

Platforms. Trader Workstation; IBKR Desktop; Client Portal; GlobalTrader; mobile

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
OANDA logo

OANDA

Group listing only

Hard and soft commodity CFDs including oil, copper, natural gas, corn plus precious metals

Pricing line. Spread-based commodity/metal CFDs

Platforms. OANDA web/mobile; MT4; MT5; TradingView

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
Pepperstone logo

Pepperstone

Group listing only

40 spot commodity markets across metals, energies and softs on cited UK page

Pricing line. Spread-based; Razor pricing applies to some products

Platforms. Pepperstone platform; MT4; MT5; cTrader; TradingView

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
Plus500 logo

Plus500

Group listing only

Gold, silver, oil, Brent, heating oil, copper, aluminium and other commodity CFDs

Pricing line. Spread/financing-based CFD pricing; regional products differ

Platforms. Proprietary web/mobile

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
Saxo logo

Saxo

Group listing only

Commodity CFDs, futures, options, spot metals and ETCs across energy, metals and agriculture

Pricing line. Tiered commissions/spreads by product and account tier

Platforms. SaxoInvestor; SaxoTrader; web/mobile

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
Swissquote logo

Swissquote

Group listing only

Metals, commodity-linked funds/ETPs and derivatives depending account/entity

Pricing line. Product/account-specific fees

Platforms. Swissquote web/mobile; MT4/MT5/CFXD in relevant accounts

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website
Trading 212 logo

Trading 212

Group listing only

Crude oil, Brent, gold, silver and other commodity/futures CFD instruments plus listed ETFs/ETCs

Pricing line. Commission-free Invest on supported securities; CFD spreads/overnight financing; FX charges can apply

Platforms. Web; mobile

Fees that are not in the note are not shown as zero. Eligibility where you live is not confirmed.

Visit official website

Compare selected providers

Select two or three providers. The limit is three.

Calculators

Each tool starts from numbers you type. This page does not send a contract size or a live price into them.

Position size

You type the contract multiplier. This page does not insert one.

Open

Futures margin

Tick value and margin come from the specification you enter.

Open

Risk and reward

A planned payoff. It does not grade the trade.

Open

Profit and loss

A result from prices you type.

Open

Stop and target

Distances you choose, not a market order.

Open

Trading journal

A record of trades you enter.

Open

Trading performance

Figures from the journal, not from a feed.

Open

What a commission leaves out

How spread, fees and financing sit beside a headline commission.

Open

Liquidity is the product

A correct story about catalysts can still be a poor trade if the contract you can deal is wide and discontinuous. Platinum’s research problem is the industry. Its trading problem is the size of the book.

This page does not rank a broker for platinum. The directory shows who named the metal and who only sits in the precious-metals group.

Questions

Is platinum a monetary metal like gold?

It is precious and it is industrial. Autocatalyst demand is central in a way that is not true of gold.

Can palladium replace it?

In some catalyst recipes, yes. The substitution is technical and not instant.

Sources and review

Written by: WiT Markets Editorial. Writes and structures WiT Markets pages. Separates a sourced fact from a cell that is Not confirmed.

Review: Editorially reviewed. This is not a qualified specialist review and it is not a legal sign-off.

Last reviewed: . Next review due . The date is an editorial pass. It is not a live check of every third-party fee.

Other sources

Methodology. Editorial policy. Corrections. Report an error.

Platinum trading: supply, catalysts and liquidity | WiT Markets