Platinum price surge hits chemical makers

A surge in the price of platinum, an element widely used as a catalyst in chemical synthesis, is putting chemical firms around the world under pressure to hike the price of their products. The German specialty chemical maker Wacker Chemie says that it increased the price of some of its silicone products by more than 25% on Feb. 1 because of a sharp rise in the price of commodities, especially platinum. Wacker uses the noble metal as a catalyst for the curing of cross-linking silicone release agents and for addition-curing silicone products. “The current price trend can no longer be compensated for through efficiency and other savings measures,” Tom Koini, Wacker’s head of silicones, says in a press release. “We have reached a point at which we have to pass on the increased costs to the market.”Platinum’s daily price hit an all-time high of $91,176/kg on Jan. 26, up from an average price of about $41,000/kg in 2025. By Feb. 4, prices had dropped to about $74,000/kg.The high platinum prices could have a substantial impact across the chemical industry. “Platinum plays an important role in catalysts used in several parts of the chemicals industry,” Sebastian Bray, a stock analyst for Berenberg Bank, says in an email. “It is not often a large cost component when making chemicals in my experience, but high and volatile prices for platinum may require adjustments to product pricing in select value chains.”The World Platinum Investment Council, an organization set up to stimulate demand for platinum,