China’s Platinum Jewellery Fabrication Falls 76% in Q2 2026
Key Facts
China’s platinum jewellery fabrication fell 76% year on year and 17% from the first quarter in Q2 2026, recording the weakest quarterly performance in the World Platinum Investment Council’s data series. In its quarterly report, the council said fabrication volumes declined by those rates, weakening demand for the metal in China’s jewellery sector. But the annual comparison was magnified by the level in Q2 2025, which the council described as exceptionally high. It said expectations of strong platinum prices at the time had encouraged stockpiling across the supply chain. The recorded decline therefore combines lower fabrication with a correction from a comparison base lifted by inventory purchases a year earlier.
The council said weak consumer confidence continued to weigh on China’s jewellery market overall, while intensifying competition from gold added further pressure on platinum. Innovations and promotional campaigns by major gold retailers strengthened consumers’ preference for the metal, according to the report. The council said this accelerated the shift in inventories from platinum to gold. These factors come amid declining consumer demand alongside the unwinding of previous inventory accumulation. The decline therefore reflects not only the effect of a high comparison base, but also a change in consumer choices within the jewellery market.
Globally, platinum jewellery fabrication fell about 32% year on year to nearly 456,000 ounces in Q2 2026. The council’s report attributed most of the decline to China, followed by a smaller contribution from Japan. The council expects global demand for platinum jewellery to fall 15% in 2026 to 1.883 million ounces. The expected contraction is concentrated in China, with contributions from the unwinding of inventory accumulation, weak consumer demand and a preference for gold. The estimate places the jewellery market among the sources of pressure on global demand for the metal this year.
China had removed the value-added tax exemption on platinum imports before these figures, with mainland customs beginning to collect the tax from November 1, 2025. The World Platinum Investment Council said the premium of platinum prices on the Shanghai exchange over international prices had risen to 14% ahead of the change, compared with a historical average of about 3%. However, the council’s report linked weak jewellery demand to consumer confidence and competition from gold, and described elevated fabrication in Q2 2025 as a factor that magnified the annual comparison. The tax change preceded Q2 2026 by about a year. These facts place the timing of the tax policy and the consumer-demand context in separate periods.
The platinum market recorded a surplus of 244,000 ounces in Q2, taking the surplus in the first half of 2026 to 548,000 ounces. The council expects the market to shift to a deficit of 283,000 ounces in the second half of the year. Nevertheless, the council raised its forecast for the full-year 2026 balance from a deficit of 297,000 ounces in its May forecast to a surplus of 265,000 ounces. It attributed this adjustment almost entirely to a 601,000-ounce reduction in its investment-demand forecasts between the May report and the September forecast. Factors cited by the council included outflows of 234,000 ounces from exchange-traded funds in Q2, contributing to net investment disinvestment of 121,000 ounces.
Platinum prices fell 24% in the first half of 2026, or 46% from the year-to-date high of $2,875 an ounce in late January, according to the council. The price decline forms part of the market backdrop presented in its report, alongside the first-half surplus and forecasts of a second-half deficit. The council plans to publish its Q3 2026 report, its revised outlook for the rest of the year and its first forecast for 2027 on November 18. It had said its first 2027 forecast would be released in November. The next report will update market-balance figures and demand forecasts following the Q3 data.