The platinum group of metals (PGMs) have received some perhaps unwarranted attention in recent weeks as the 'coin' idiocy came and went; but, it is noteworthy, as Eric Sprott points out that with demand rising and supply under pressure, the outlook for investment in physical platinum and palladium is increasingly compelling. The following infographic (and various supply and demand dynamics) provides a succinct picture of what these metals are used for, where they are produced, and the supply/demand imbalances.

In the British Geological Survey's Risk List 2012, the platinum group of metals (PGMs), of which platinum and palladium are widely viewed as the most significant, received a high supply risk index based on the list's seven criteria: scarcity in the Earth's crust; production concentration-location of principal producers and contribution to global supply; reserve distribution-global distribution of reserves; recycling rate; substitutability; governance (top producing nation); and governance (top reserve-hosting nation).