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London: Platinum hit an historic high on Wednesday as the market remained concerned about supplies from top producer South Africa following a power crisis that has hit mining operations there.
Other precious metals also advanced, with gold rising more than 1 per cent to trade just below $900 an ounce and silver gradually moving towards recent 27-year highs.
Spot platinum rose as high as $1,814 an ounce before easing to $1,805/$1,810 at 1240 GMT, against $1,770/$1,775 late in New York on Tuesday.
"The lack of spare power generating capacity in South Africa is not only affecting output in the short term but has the potential to delay new projects by months or even years," Tom Kendall, metals strategist at Mitsubishi Corporation, said.
Gold bounced back towards $900 an ounce as recent drops attracted physical buyers and bargain hunters, analysts said.
Spot gold rose as high as $898.20 and was last quoted at $896.50/$897.40, against $886.85/$887.55 late in New York on Tuesday, when it hit a two-week low of $885.30 mainly on a firmer dollar.
The metal rose to a record high of $936.50 on February 1.
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