South African miner Valterra Platinum (VALJ.J) expects AI – and the data centres required to drive it – to propel demand for platinum group metals (PGM), CEO Craig Miller said on Wednesday after the company reported a 17-fold increase in half-year profit.
Valterra, the world's top platinum producer by value, reported headline earnings per share of 82.02 rand ($4.9) for the six months to June 30, up from 4.73 rand a year earlier, driven by an 85% surge in metal prices, coupled with an 18% increase in sales volumes.
The future of PGMs, historically mostly used in catalytic converters to curb vehicle emissions, has been under threat from the growth of electric vehicles that do not require emissions control.
This has forced Valterra and rivals to explore alternative industrial uses for the metals – and the recent massive growth in AI has opened a new growth route.
AI-DRIVEN PGM DEMAND
Valterra believes there is potential future PGM demand of 10 million ounces annually in industrial applications, jewellery, the growth of hydrogen as a clean energy source as well as supporting AI technologies.
"There is about 2 million ounces of real demand which sits there today, that we're actively working on with a high degree of confidence," Miller told Reuters in an interview.
"AI was probably not necessarily on our radar 24 months ago. But what we are seeing is that PGM demand in AI-related activities is today conservatively, we think, somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 ounces of demand," he added, referring to the huge growth in data centres required to process AI.
AI-driven PGM demand could grow by as much as five times by 2030, Miller said.
Global platinum supply, about 7 million ounces this year, is forecast to be lower than demand for the fourth consecutive year.
PGMs have exceptional electrical, thermal and catalytic properties relevant to the AI sector, according to the World Platinum Investment Council.
Miller said PGMs could also substitute about 10% of the gold currently being used in electroplating and related electronic applications, potentially creating a further 1 million ounce PGM demand annually.
Valterra said it would pay an interim dividend of 57 rand per share, up from 2 rand a year earlier, returning 15.1 billion rand to shareholders and representing a 70% payout ratio.
($1 = 16.7158 rand)
