Heraeus: Platinum demand in the petroleum industry has been hit hard 　　

On October 16, Hu Min, General Manager of Heraeus Precious Metals China, said that due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic this year, the demand for platinum in the petroleum industry has been hit hard and is expected to shrink by about 50% this year.

　　Platinum catalyst is a key active agent for crude oil reforming to produce high-octane gasoline. Petroleum catalysts accounted for about 7 tons of platinum demand last year, and it is expected that demand for petroleum platinum will shrink by more than 3 tons in 2020.

　　 As the epidemic has not yet been brought under control and travel activities have dropped sharply, global oil demand is expected to drop by 8.4 million barrels per day to 91.6 million barrels per day in 2020. The decline in demand for petroleum products threatens the survival of refineries. The United States, Europe and Southeast Asia have seen reductions in refining capacity, and some refineries are facing the threat of closure. The closure of the refinery will allow platinum recovered from the old catalyst to enter the market again.

　　 Therefore, Heraeus expects that the platinum market will continue to maintain a surplus, and the platinum released by the closure of refineries will further aggravate the market surplus, thereby increasing downward pressure on platinum prices.