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Who buys South Africa’s platinum-group metals? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, South Africa exported $17 billion of platinum-group metals (415 tonnes), 37.2% of the world total. Its main destinations were the United States (23%), Japan (22%) and China (16%). South Africa was the world’s largest exporter of platinum-group metals.

Summary

Value
$17billion
Tonnes
415tonnes
Share of world total
37.2%
World rank
1st
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
United States4Tonnes: 81USD per tonne: $48,944,92523.4%Air
Japan3.8Tonnes: 91USD per tonne: $41,267,73222.2%Air
China2.7Tonnes: 67USD per tonne: $40,570,62016%Air
United Kingdom2.2Tonnes: 59USD per tonne: $37,506,12613%Air
Hong Kong re-exports1.2Tonnes: 33USD per tonne: $37,431,4907.2%Air
Germany1.1Tonnes: 34USD per tonne: $33,873,8516.7%Air
South Korea0.45Tonnes: 10USD per tonne: $45,889,0502.6%Air
Canada0.45Tonnes: 11USD per tonne: $40,008,5592.6%Air
Italy0.45Tonnes: 9USD per tonne: $51,789,5092.6%Air
Brazil0.23Tonnes: 6USD per tonne: $38,271,0961.3%Air
Switzerland0.14Tonnes: 4USD per tonne: $32,067,7340.79%Air
Taiwan0.12Tonnes: 6USD per tonne: $20,283,8680.73%Air
India0.05Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $35,863,8550.27%Air
Ireland0.03Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $31,435,2630.2%Air
Spain0.03Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $34,867,7030.17%Air
Thailand0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $33,151,3090.08%Air
Norway0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $34,025,3650.06%Air
Argentina0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $32,738,1590.05%Air
Austria< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $17,705,9520.02%Air
Australia< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $31,100,2930.01%Air

Trend

Who it sells to

The United States has been its main destination since 2024

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • United States 4
  • Japan 3.8
  • China 2.7
  • United Kingdom 2.2
  • Hong Kong 1.2

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
United States0.814
Japan0.493.8
China< 0.012.7
United Kingdom0.062.2
Hong Kong0.021.2

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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