Resources group Tharisa expects the world’s platinum supply shortfall to support miners through a period of expensive input cost inflation brought on by the Iran war.
Reaffirming its full-year production guidance, the miner said in a statement on Tuesday that platinum demand continued to exceed supply, keeping the metal’s price elevated.
In chrome markets, the war’s effect on energy prices was being passed on to consumers, sheltering producers and buoying its price as well, it said.
The group has invested in “mitigation measures” to keep its operations equipped with electricity as the war continues to threaten global fuel supplies. Volatile diesel prices, in particular, pose an ongoing threat to the industry.
“In light of the current geopolitical challenges, we have put in place mitigation measures to ensure, as far as possible, security of fuel supply to the Tharisa Mine. While costs will increase, our focus remains on efficiency,” Tharisa said in its production report for the second quarter ended March.
Platinum prices continued to trade around their highest level in a decade in the first three months of 2026 after rallying more than 130% in 2025 on tariff uncertainty and a sustained market deficit.
The World Platinum Investment Council expects supply to once again fall short of demand in 2026 — this time by about 240,000oz — as South Africa’s mined supply continues to stall and strong fundamentals attract investor interest.
“Platinum fundamentals remain firm as the market comes to terms with the deficits in the supply-demand dynamics, and with the de-stocking of inventory pipelines, any new demand will need to be met by new supply,” Tharisa said.
“Prices held firm even during the disruptive geopolitical second half of the quarter.”
Meanwhile, “chrome prices remain strong, with logistics costs being passed on to the end customer”.
The group produced 34,300oz of PGMs in the quarter ended March, down from 38,800oz in the previous quarter as a result of lower grades in the reef being mined.
Chrome production was slightly higher at 404,000 tonnes, compared with 349,400 tonnes in the December quarter.
The looming energy shock could threaten the group’s ongoing production growth strategy, in which it hopes to migrate several open-pit operations underground and achieve its long-held production targets of 2-million tonnes of chrome and 200,000oz of PGMs, representing increases of about 30% and 45%, respectively, over the next decade.
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