Aquarius, the world's fourth-largest producer of platinum, will benefit from increased demand for the metal in the second half of 2009, it has been claimed.

In February of this year, Aquarius announced its intention to produce 575,000 pgm oz in 2009, which would be a 15 per cent increase on the level seen in 2008.

The company also revealed that group production had hit 260,209 pgm oz in the second half of 2008, which was up 17 per cent on the equivalent figure for the six months to June 2008.

According to Andrew Dyer, marketing director at CSS Partners, increased production will enable Aquarius to take advantage of higher platinum prices caused by augmenting demand.

"Aquarius is set to benefit from higher commodity prices as platinum prices rebounded from a year low of $774 in November 2008 to $1,186 per ounce in July this year," he said in a CSS Partners FTSE Tips bulletin.

"Palladium prices also rebounded from a year low of $161 to $259."

He added that while jewellery demand had tempered recently, dollar falls against the euro and sterling and a revitalised Chinese auto industry had combined to heighten requests from platinum auto catalysts and electronic trade funds.

Aquarius has operations and projects at Bushveld Complex in South Africa and the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe and is quoted on the Australian, London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.

Source:

CSS Partners FTSE Tips - Aquarius Platinum Limited (11/08/09)

Ÿ Adfero Ltd