The marketing executive of the world's second biggest platinum producer, Implats, has said he is confident in the platinum group metals (pgm) market.

The South African company's marketing executive Derek Engelbrecht has claimed that despite a reduction in demand for platinum based jewellery in China, the pgm market continues to look strong.

Mr Engelbrecht told Reuters: "With the price having gone above $1,000, that's clearly been reflected in the retail price of the product, and [Chinese consumers have] held back."

The Chinese market accounts for around half of platinum jewellery sales, yet the Implats executive is hopeful that a rise in demand for catalytic converters will offset the jewellery reduction and should see the pgm market remain buoyant.

Implats announced this week it hopes to boost production by a quarter to 2.3 million ounces by 2010, mostly through expansion of its interests in Zimbabwe.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd