Platinum is used to make the electrolyzers that produce hydrogen and the sharp down cycle in South Africa’s platinum mining sector demonstrates the risk that low prices and lack of investment could slow the energy transition. Prices for other commodities have also fallen, while miners have been complaining of rising costs and seem to be limiting their capital expenditures. Photo: michele spatari/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesFor the mining sector, cyclical returns are nothing new. Ray said many South African PGM miners are now selling their output at close to the cost of production, eating away at profitability. “To the extent that PGM prices stay at current levels, I would not be surprised to see more supply-side reaction,” Ray said.

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Persons: Waldo Swiegers, ”, Tom Price, michele spatari, We’ve, ” Emma Townshend, ” Townshend, Raj Ray, Ray, ” Ray, ” Implats’s Townshend, Implats, Yusuf Khan Organizations: Bloomberg, Liberum, Agence France, PGM, Times, Business, BMO Capital Markets, Metals Locations: Sibanye, Africa, Johannesburg, Stillwater, South, South Africa, Marikana, U.S, China, Europe, Implats