Platinum’s 2025 price rally in-part driven by elevated lease rates pushing end-users towards ownership

As leasing costs rose sharply from late 2024, some end users reassessed how they access platinum, with a growing preference for ownership over leasing. This behavioural shift began from May 2025 against a backdrop of already depleted above-ground stocks, coinciding with the start of platinum’s rally that resulted in a 127% price increase by the end of the year and continued into 2026.

Whilst the total demand for metal has not significantly changed, the pivot to ownership reduces the volume of metal cycling through the lease market, effectively reducing liquidity and sustaining higher lease rates, perpetuating tight market conditions in 2026.

Figure 1. Elevated lease rates drove a decline in leasing volumes, incentivising pivot towards ownership that coincided with the onset of the platinum price rally