Ahead of Shanghai Platinum Week commencing 6 July 2026, it’s worth reflecting on how China’s platinum and palladium markets have responded to the new futures contracts and options on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX). GFEX has supported domestic liquidity and improved price discovery with some evidence of a shift away from SGE.Following exuberant trade at launch, through Q2 2026, GFEX open interest moderated and averaged 620 koz (19 t) with average daily trade of 186 koz (5.8 t). LBMA and NYMEX record average daily volumes of one and two million ounces (31t and 62t) respectively. From here, we would expect China to play a larger role in global price discovery once the GFEX secures Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) scheme approval. Since China is the largest PGM consumer globally, QFI approval will increase GFEX volumes as foreign participants trade the natural arbitrage across international exchanges. Figure 1. Platinum futures provide significant liquiditySource: GFEX, WPIC Research
