The tripling of the platinum price over the past three years owes much to an unlikely alliance of burly truckers, Chinese brides and financial traders. On Tuesday, the price jumped by 10 per cent amid speculation about the launch of an exchange-traded fund in platinum. ETFs provide an easy way to play precious metals markets and are common in gold.

Platinum has a plausible long-term bull story. More than half of global production is used in catalytic converters for vehicles, with tightening environmental standards underpinning demand. Europe, in particular, has a growing fondness for diesel. Unlike those for petrol engines, autocatalysts for diesel engines use mainly platinum rather than the metal’s cheaper cousin, palladium.