Overall, the value of overall platinum exports rose by an average 85.3% for all exporting countries since 2015 when platinum shipments were valued at $22 billion. Year over year, the value of global platinum exports increased by 25.9% from 2018 to 2019.
Among continents, suppliers in European countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported platinum during 2019 with shipments valued at $24.3 billion or 59.8% of the global total. In second place were African exporters at 20.5% while 12.6% of worldwide platinum shipments originated from North America. Another 7.1% worth came from Asia.
Smaller percentages arrived from Latin America (0.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, and Oceania (0.01%) New Zealand and Australia only.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for unwrought or semi-manufactured platinum is 7110. Also included in that code prefix are palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium.
Platinum Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of platinum during 2019.
- South Africa: US$8.3 billion (20.4% of total platinum exports)
- United Kingdom: $6.9 billion (16.8%)
- Russia: $5.1 billion (12.6%)
- United States: $4.7 billion (11.6%)
- Germany: $4.1 billion (10.1%)
- Belgium: $2.7 billion (6.6%)
- Italy: $2.6 billion (6.3%)
- Switzerland: $2 billion (4.8%)
- Japan: $1.1 billion (2.7%)
- Hong Kong: $976.4 million (2.4%)
- Canada: $377.3 million (0.9%)
- Norway: $377.3 million (0.9%)
- Taiwan: $247.8 million (0.6%)
- Singapore: $206.4 million (0.5%)
- Austria: $192.3 million (0.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 97.7% of globally exported platinum in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of platinum since 2015 were: Belgium (up 606.5%), Russia (up 431.4%), Germany (up 158%) and Italy (up 156.7%).
Taiwan posted a decline in its international sales of platinum thanks to a -21.8% reduction.
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for platinum during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported platinum and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- South Africa: US$8.2 billion (net export surplus up 19.7% since 2015)
- Russia: $5 billion (up 420.2%)
- Belgium: $2.3 billion (up 653%)
- Italy: $824.4 million (up 301.7%)
- United Kingdom: $427.7 million (down -81.2%)
- Norway: $361.1 million (up 53.5%)
- Finland: $110.6 million (up 124.5%)
- Singapore: $87.6 million (reversing a -$46 million deficit)
- Austria: $75.2 million (up 750.8%)
- Taiwan: $63.8 million (down -36.3%)
- Zimbabwe: $60.1 million (up 69.3%)
- Switzerland: $47.5 million (reversing a -$188.3 million deficit)
- Spain: $20.2 million (down -17.9%)
- Uzbekistan: $19 million (no 2015 data)
- Turkey: $12.1 million (up 359.1%)
South Africa generated the highest surplus in the international trade of platinum. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms South Africa’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for platinum during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported platinum purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: -US$3.6 billion (net export deficit up 9.4% since 2015)
- Japan: -$3.49 billion (up 52.7%)
- Hong Kong: -$3.46 billion (up 84.2%)
- United States: -$2.1 billion (up 19.5%)
- North Macedonia: -$1.3 billion (up 79.2%)
- Germany: -$1.1 billion (down -19.7%)
- South Korea: -$981.1 million (up 202.3%)
- Brazil: -$582.3 million (up 255%)
- Canada: -$295.2 million (up 668.8%)
- India: -$254.8 million (up 13.4%)
- Poland: -$236.1 million (up 573.7%)
- Malaysia: -$181.9 million (up 19.4%)
- Ireland: -$149.8 million (down -25.9%)
- Argentina: -$125.1 million (up 79.9%)
- Thailand: -$86.6 million (up 111.2%)
Overtaking Japan in 2019, China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of platinum. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for platinum-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful worldwide demand.
Companies
Platinum Exporting Companies
Below are global platinum miners that represent established players engaged in the international platinum trade. The home country for each platinum producer is shown within parenthesis.
- Anglo American Platinum Limited (South Africa)
- Aquarius Platinum (Bermuda)
- ARM African Rainbow Minerals (South Africa)
- Impala Platinum (South Africa)
- Lonmin plc (United Kingdom)
- Nornickel (Russia)
- North American Palladium (Canada)
- Northam Platinum (South Africa)
- Stillwater Mining Company (United States)
- Wesizwe Platinum (South Africa)
Searchable List of Platinum Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2018 data was unavailable.
| Rank | Exporter | Platinum Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | South Africa | $8,284,307,000 | +4.8% |
| 2. | United Kingdom | $6,853,278,000 | +12.9% |
| 3. | Russia | $5,121,876,000 | +40.7% |
| 4. | United States | $4,725,700,000 | +30.7% |
| 5. | Germany | $4,090,148,000 | +30.2% |
| 6. | Belgium | $2,681,808,000 | +126.7% |
| 7. | Italy | $2,556,801,000 | +43% |
| 8. | Switzerland | $1,956,263,000 | +75.8% |
| 9. | Japan | $1,117,322,000 | +20.3% |
| 10. | Hong Kong | $976,403,000 | -12.3% |
| 11. | Canada | $377,327,000 | +29.7% |
| 12. | Norway | $377,293,000 | +40% |
| 13. | Taiwan | $247,777,000 | -7.5% |
| 14. | Singapore | $206,387,000 | +239.9% |
| 15. | Austria | $192,261,000 | +48.2% |
| 16. | South Korea | $152,957,000 | +47.9% |
| 17. | France | $115,439,000 | -4.4% |
| 18. | Finland | $112,114,000 | +59.3% |
| 19. | China | $85,884,000 | +111% |
| 20. | Slovakia | $74,695,000 | +7.7% |
| 21. | Zimbabwe | $60,127,000 | +37.9% |
| 22. | Spain | $54,067,000 | +20.5% |
| 23. | Poland | $47,078,000 | +63.9% |
| 24. | Czech Republic | $37,560,000 | -15.3% |
| 25. | India | $29,685,000 | +33.1% |
| 26. | Uzbekistan | $18,952,000 | +3,151% |
| 27. | Netherlands | $18,037,000 | +48.9% |
| 28. | Turkey | $16,121,000 | +106.5% |
| 29. | Portugal | $14,388,000 | +47.9% |
| 30. | United Arab Emirates | $11,433,000 | -90.4% |
| 31. | Malaysia | $10,963,000 | +294.9% |
| 32. | Costa Rica | $6,968,000 | +1,319% |
| 33. | Colombia | $6,298,000 | -20.6% |
| 34. | Thailand | $5,792,000 | +26.1% |
| 35. | Chile | $5,616,000 | 0% |
| 36. | Serbia | $5,405,000 | +187.5% |
| 37. | Mexico | $4,091,000 | -50.2% |
| 38. | Belarus | $3,201,000 | 0% |
| 39. | New Zealand | $2,957,000 | +8.3% |
| 40. | Ukraine | $2,865,000 | +29.5% |
| 41. | Australia | $2,166,000 | +64.6% |
| 42. | Hungary | $2,131,000 | +22.4% |
| 43. | Egypt | $1,685,000 | +1,237% |
| 44. | Israel | $1,270,000 | +6,956% |
| 45. | Ireland | $1,214,000 | +18.9% |
| 46. | Sweden | $1,205,000 | -49.9% |
| 47. | Lebanon | $943,000 | -68.9% |
| 48. | Peru | $690,000 | -7.5% |
| 49. | Indonesia | $618,000 | +627.1% |
| 50. | Brazil | $548,000 | -78.8% |
| 51. | Romania | $386,000 | -53% |
| 52. | Vietnam | $336,000 | -3.2% |
| 53. | Lithuania | $307,000 | 0% |
| 54. | Bulgaria | $262,000 | +116.5% |
| 55. | Denmark | $222,000 | -80.5% |
| 56. | Slovenia | $215,000 | +28.7% |
| 57. | Luxembourg | $162,000 | -93.5% |
| 58. | Ecuador | $138,000 | 0% |
| 59. | Greece | $126,000 | +281.8% |
| 60. | Jordan | $123,000 | 0% |
| 61. | Saudi Arabia | $93,000 | 0% |
| 62. | Dominican Republic | $65,000 | -99.2% |
| 63. | Philippines | $60,000 | +87.5% |
| 64. | Saint Helena | $51,000 | +1,600% |
| 65. | Estonia | $46,000 | +7% |
| 66. | Croatia | $34,000 | -12.8% |
| 67. | Bolivia | $31,000 | +933.3% |
| 68. | Ethiopia | $24,000 | +300% |
| 69. | Honduras | $19,000 | 0% |
| 70. | Panama | $17,000 | -63% |
| 71. | Latvia | $5,000 | -98.3% |
| 72. | Venezuela | $5,000 | -92.5% |
| 73. | Mauritius | $3,000 | -40% |
| 74. | Niger | $1,000 | 0% |
| 75. | North Macedonia | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Gold Exports by Country, Silver Exports by Country and Palladium Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 28, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 28, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 28, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 28, 2020
Wikipedia, Category:Platinum mining companies. Accessed on May 28, 2020