BlackRock's Platinum ETF Assets Hit Record Even as Metal Tumbled

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum is down, but it’s not out for ETF buyers.

As prices tumbled this week to a four-month low in the spot market, investors were picking up bargains. The metal held in BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Physical Platinum ETC climbed 7.5 percent to a record of about 20,819 ounces, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That took the exchange-traded fund’s shares outstanding to the highest since it was listed in London seven years ago.

Platinum has slumped since Volkswagen AG admitted in 2015 to falsifying pollution data for its cars, dimming the demand outlook for the metal used to curb pollution from diesel-fueled vehicles. This year, South African mine closures and lower Russian production will begin to erode oversupply, the World Platinum Investment Council said in March. Industrial and jewelry demand will recover this year, offsetting a decline in use by carmakers, the council said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in New York at ljavier@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net, Steven Frank, Joe Richter

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