turning point, page-40

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=141201

Prices will rally 13% to a three-year high of $2050/oz by December 31, based on the median estimate of 25 analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg.

The increase exceeds what mines in Russia and North America, the biggest suppliers after SA, can produce in a year. Global car and truck sales will climb 6,1% to 76,7-million units this year, according to Oxford, England-based JD Power Automotive Forecasting.

Still, investors remain bullish due to the outlook for supply. Production in SA, which mines 76% of the world?s platinum, will reach 4,85-million ounces this year, 8,4% less than five years ago, Barclays estimates. Mining companies worldwide are extracting about 3,83g of platinum group metals from every ton of rock, down from 4,4g in 2006, according to GFMS, a London-based research company.