JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Young, bridal and self-purchasing jewellery consumers are emerging to contribute to platinum demand growth this year, the Platinum Guild International (PGI) reports.

In its ‘2017 Platinum Jewellery Business Review’, the PGI found strong consumer retail sales growth in the US, Japan and India for 2017 and noted that platinum jewellery had even outperformed gold in some areas.

“We saw above-market growth for platinum jewellery in three out of four key markets in 2017. This trend is tied to a robust global economy and historically low platinum prices, which, together with an increasing preference for platinum among younger consumers, indicates growth potential in the platinum jewellery sector in 2018,” PGI CEO Huw Daniel commented.

Despite continued challenges from new legislation, the Indian jewellery industry has seen retail sales reported in platinum ounces increase by 21% year-on-year for the PGI programme and fabrication ounce demand growing at 34% year-on-year, compared with 14% year-on-year growth for gold jewellery, the PGI reported, adding that there is a strong preference for platinum among young consumers in India.

Meanwhile, bridal markets have become strongholds for platinum jewellery, specifically those of China, Japan, the US and a newly emerging market in India.

The PGI stated that it has observed strong growth in platinum buying in the core bridal category in China. “According to a consumer study covering 55 cities, platinum bridal acquisition volumes have increased by 22% compared with 2014.”

Nevertheless, the PGI expects Chinese demand for platinum jewellery to decline again this year.

Demand in India, meanwhile, will be driven by “love-gifting” as local organised retailers find footholds for platinum within the gold-dominated wedding category, while, in Japan, platinum jewellery should maintain its 92% share of the engagement ring market and 82% share of wedding rings.

The PGI noted that strong results for platinum in bridal are also mirrored in the West. In the US, the economic recovery and a bullish consumer sentiment has benefited the total jewellery industry, leading to the fifth consecutive year of growth for platinum jewellery consumption, at 11%.

“In 2018, additional growth is expected to derive from initiatives promoting the use of platinum crowns that hold diamonds more securely, regardless of the choice of metal for the rest of the ring, along with increasing demand from the self-purchase category, which is likely to generate 8% to 11% of total growth in the US.”

Additionally, while the majority of the platinum jewellery sold is bridal, PGI’s US division has also introduced a new platinum collection of platinum-only, chain-based necklaces as part of the Platinum Born collection, to target women buying jewellery for themselves, in order to continue to optimise local market growth opportunity.

Further, in Japan – which has the highest per capita consumption of platinum jewellery globally – platinum accounts for over 50% of total jewellery sales value.

Growth is driven by a strong self-purchasing market led by women with a strong affinity for platinum. Retail demand growth is forecast to continue at 1% to 2% this year, driven by moderate growth in the self-purchasing category, especially for heavier products such as Kihei chains and religious objects.