Zimbabwe’s platinum producers were on course to reach record output but the policy of having to sell majority stakes to black citizens might inhibit investments in future expansion, Johnson Matthey said yesterday.
Production would probably reach 400 000 ounces this year, 18 percent more than a year ago, the UK platinum refiner said in a report. Palladium output was expected to increase 17 percent to 310 000 ounces, while rhodium output might rise 14 percent to 33 000 ounces.
The increases were largely due to expansion at Zimplats Holdings, a unit of Impala Platinum, the report said.
“I wouldn’t like to bet whether people will have the confidence to” invest in further expanding production, Peter Duncan, Johnson Matthey’s general manager for market research, said at a presentation in Johannesburg. “Certainly it has the potential to grow.”
President Robert Mugabe pledged to press ahead with Zimbabwe’s indigenisation policy after winning the election in July.
– Bloomberg