Diamonds Update

Demand for platinum among North American jewelry manufacturers is expected to continue dropping through the end of 2005, as the price of platinum is forecast to move even higher—above $1,000 an ounce—in the next 6 months, finds a new report.

In Platinum 2005 Interim Review, released Tuesday by platinum producer Johnson Matthey, the company projected the price of platinum may reach $1,030 an ounce within the next six months.

Demand within the platinum market as a whole is expected to rise by 120,000 ounces to 6.71 million ounces this year, a new all-time high. But the increased demand is coming from the auto industry, which uses the metal for platinum autocatalysts for diesel cars and trucks, and from the computer industry, which uses the metal for hard disks and LCD glass panels.

Platinum purchases by the North American jewelry trade are expected to fall 10 percent in 2005 to 260,000 ounces, down from the peak demand in 2000, when jewelry manufacturing demands exceeded 360,000 ounces.

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