China announces widespread hydrogen scale-up plan ahead of Shanghai Platinum Week

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. An extensive pilot initiative aimed at scaling up hydrogen technology, infrastructure and applications across the length and breadth of China has been announced, shortly before next month's promising Shanghai Platinum Week from July 7 to 10, where there will be a strong South Africa platinum group metals (PGM) presence. As the world's largest consumer of PGMs, China is a major driver of the demand for platinum, which has risen to the highest level in more than a decade, with gains taking place at a time of market deficit. Green hydrogen and PGMs go hand-in-glove in that PGMs are used in the electrolysers that generate green hydrogen, as well as in the fuel cells that convert that green hydrogen back into green electricity for mobile and stationary applications. Platinum for immediate delivery has been trading at a premium to futures, which arising ahead of a big get together that never fails to provide a distinctive platform to gain insights into China's market dynamics and to emphasise South Africa's position as the world's largest producer of PGMs. The latest China hydrogen scale-up initiative is targeting a comprehensive commercial deployment by June 2028, the initiative focuses on 11 specific areas within the hydrogen value chain, testing innovative models and technologies, the World Platinum Investment Council has reiterated on LinkedIn. The membership of the World Platinum Investment Council, which provides insights to advance platinum investment, includes all of South Africa's major PGM mining companies. After signs of strong demand in China, Bloomberg reports that platinum is heading for a record quarterly surge, as well as robust investor interest, exacerbated by deficit concerns. The publication Fuel Cell Works Targeting has pointed out that each project under this new hydrogen scale-up directive is mandated to demonstrate technological progression, commercial potential, substantial carbon reduction benefits. Green hydrogen production must involve electrolyser facilities with capacities of at least 100 MW and be 80% powered by renewable energy sources. Remote locations such as deserts and isolated plateaus will reportedly host 100 MW-plus off-grid hydrogen systems. Each China province and central State-owned enterprise can nominate up to five individual projects and two regional pilot schemes. Priority will be given to projects already holding necessary permits, aligned with national research and development strategies, or incorporating pioneering technologies supported by robust commercial and technical bases. As the countdown begins towards the Shanghai Platinum Week, hopes are also high that China will introduce the first cornerstone of what will likely be global trading augmentation and add to price discovery, which is key for the overall market. Ahead of Shanghai Platinum Week No 5, Mining Weekly has been informed that the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) is close to regulatory sign-off of the promising new trading framework. GFEX is where physically settled platinum and palladium futures have the potential to transform domestic price risk management and uplift demand for platinum products. Acceptable will be platinum and palladium in the form of ingots and sponge - pure metal in powder form - as opposed to just ingots. The ability to take delivery of sponge could be transformative for industrial users of PGMs, as well as automakers, as this is the main form typically used for their manufacturing purposes. No other exchange in the world allows delivery of sponge. Other benefits of the GFEX's new futures are likely to include a mechanism for businesses involved in the market to hedge price risk and better manage their operations. For example, the removal of price risk will allow platinum jewe...