The LBMA Platinum Price and LBMA Palladium Price are the global benchmark prices for unallocated platinum and palladium delivered in London, set twice each business day by an electronic auction. Who administers that auction, what happens inside its 60-second rounds, and why can a website not simply display the number for free? This page works through the mechanics, the metal behind them, how the benchmark compares with NYMEX futures and Johnson Matthey's base price, and the licensing rule that keeps it off most price pages, including this site's own.
What Is the LBMA Platinum Price?#
The LBMA platinum price is the settlement reference for spot trades, monthly-averaging contracts, cash-settled swaps and other platinum derivatives, published by ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA). The same auction mechanism produces the LBMA palladium price for palladium on the same schedule. Both benchmarks price unallocated metal, a general claim on metal rather than specific serial-numbered bars, and both sit inside the wider platinum group metal prices today that this site tracks across all six PGMs.
The LBMA platinum price differs from the platinum price today and palladium price today pages on this site in one way that matters: those pages show a dealer's continuously updated OTC spot quote, while the LBMA price publishes only twice a day, by auction, and is licensed rather than freely republishable.
Who Administers the LBMA Platinum and Palladium Prices#
ICE Benchmark Administration has run the LBMA Platinum and Palladium Price since 1 July 2026, taking over from the London Metal Exchange, which administered it from December 2014. Before the London Metal Exchange, the London Platinum and Palladium Fixing Company set the price by telephone fixing. The table below lists all three administrators against their exact period.
| Period | Administrator | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Before December 2014 | London Platinum and Palladium Fixing Company Ltd | Telephone fixing, superseded |
| December 2014 to 30 June 2026 | London Metal Exchange (LME) | Ran an electronic auction |
| From 1 July 2026 | ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) | Current administrator |
IBA already administered the LBMA Gold Price from March 2015 and the LBMA Silver Price from October 2017, so the July 2026 handover completed IBA's run of all four LBMA precious metal benchmarks (IBA Benchmark Statement, 1 July 2026).
The Four LBMA PGM Benchmarks Published Each Day#
Four LBMA PGM benchmarks publish each business day: LBMA Platinum Price AM and PM, LBMA Palladium Price AM and PM. Each of the four carries its own ISIN and results from its own auction, so a reader citing "the LBMA price" without saying AM or PM is citing only half of that day's data.
How the LBMA Platinum and Palladium Price Auction Works#
The LBMA platinum auction runs in 60-second rounds in which Direct Participants enter buy and sell orders until the imbalance between buying and selling interest falls within a 4,000-ounce threshold. Platinum's auction runs from 09:45 London time, with a second round from 14:00; palladium's auction begins as soon as that day's platinum auction concludes. Because the final round can land at any point after the auction opens, IBA's own materials describe the benchmark as auctioned from 09:45, never set at 09:45.
Each auction opens with a 30-minute Round Zero, in which participants queue orders with no price yet showing, followed by repeated 60-second rounds until the imbalance test passes. Trades between Direct Participants then settle at the Final Price plus a seller's premium of USD 0.50 per ounce, which separates what a Direct Participant receives from the published benchmark itself (IBA Methodology, July 2026).
Auction Specification: Order Sizes, Timing and Currency#
The auction's order book runs from a 1-ounce minimum to a 100,000-ounce maximum single order, in US dollars, with a minimum price move of 5 cents. Every order is entered in troy ounces, and the platinum and palladium specifications share nearly every parameter, listed side by side below.
| Parameter | Platinum | Palladium |
|---|---|---|
| Round duration | 60 seconds | 60 seconds |
| Standard imbalance threshold | 4,000 oz | 4,000 oz |
| Minimum order size | 1 troy oz | 1 troy oz |
| Maximum single order size | 100,000 troy oz | 100,000 troy oz |
| Start time (London) | 09:45 and 14:00 | Immediately after each platinum auction |
| Auction currency | USD | USD |
| Minimum price move | USD 0.05 | USD 0.05 |
| Price published to | 2 decimal places | 2 decimal places |
The published price appears in US dollars, with indicative GBP and EUR values converted at the exchange rate captured when the final round ends; those two currencies are not directly tradeable through the auction itself.
What Happens When the Auction Fails#
If fewer than two active Direct Participants are logged on, IBA can delay the platinum or palladium auction by up to 60 minutes or issue a No Publication for that session. The panel comfortably exceeds that quorum in ordinary trading, and the one Direct Participant this site can confirm by name is BASF Metals Ltd, a Direct Participant in both auctions and an industrial refiner alongside the banks and trading firms that otherwise dominate the panel. IBA can also intervene mid-auction: it may suspend, delay or abandon a round, set a start price, or widen the imbalance threshold, and an error found within 30 minutes of publication can still be corrected, while a later one waits for the next quarterly error notice.
What Underlies the Price: Loco London, Unallocated Metal and Good Delivery#
Loco London platinum and palladium is metal held in London vaults on an unallocated basis, meaning the holder has a general entitlement to metal rather than specific serial-numbered bars. Allocated metal, by contrast, identifies exact bars or plates held for one named owner. The LPPM, the trade body that sets the physical standard behind the benchmark, does not administer the auction itself; that job belongs to IBA alone. Unallocated metal is what the LBMA platinum and palladium auctions actually price, on a spot basis.
LPPM Good Delivery: The Physical Specification#
LPPM Good Delivery platinum and palladium must meet 99.95% minimum fineness in plates of 1 to 6 kilograms, far smaller than a gold Good Delivery bar. The LPPM's Good Delivery lists carry 39 platinum refiners and 33 palladium refiners, out of an LPPM membership of 113 firms across 21 countries. Required markings on every plate include a serial number, the refiner's own assay stamp, fineness to four significant figures, the metal's designation, and the month and year of production.
| Parameter | Platinum | Palladium | LBMA gold (contrast) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum fineness | 99.95% | 99.95% | 99.5% |
| Standard weight range | 1 to 6 kg (32.151 to 192.904 oz t) | 1 to 6 kg (32.151 to 192.904 oz t) | 350 to 430 oz t |
| Refiners on the Good Delivery list | 39 | 33 | separate gold list |
A gold Good Delivery bar runs 350 to 430 troy ounces at 99.5% fineness, so a single gold bar weighs several times more than the largest platinum or palladium plate. Good Delivery metal is what a Direct Participant physically delivers against a matched auction trade.
Settlement: T+2 and the Business Day Definition#
LBMA platinum and palladium settle T+2, within two days that are both a UK and a US business day. That double condition means a UK bank holiday or a US federal holiday each push settlement back a day, even when the other country stays open for trading. The underlying asset in every trade is the same spot unallocated loco London metal described above.
LBMA Price vs NYMEX Futures, Johnson Matthey and Other PGM Series#
Five different organizations publish a platinum or palladium price: the LBMA/IBA auction, NYMEX futures, Johnson Matthey base prices, Umicore's daily quote and, since November 2025, China's GFEX futures contract. Each covers a different location and timetable, and GFEX prices in a different currency, so none of the five figures simply restates another.
| Series | Platinum price (USD/oz t) | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| WPIC (spot-referenced) | 2,923.00 | 26 January 2026 | World Platinum Investment Council |
| NYMEX futures | 2,923.70 | January 2026 | Trading Economics |
| Johnson Matthey base price | 2,860.00 | January 2026 | Johnson Matthey PGM Market Report, May 2026 |
| GFEX (Guangzhou Futures Exchange) | Not priced in USD/oz; 1,000 g per lot, quoted in CNY/g | Launched 27 November 2025 | World Platinum Investment Council |
NYMEX platinum futures trade in 50-troy-ounce contracts, and NYMEX platinum futures settle against ordinary exchange trading rather than an auction. NYMEX palladium futures trade in 100-troy-ounce contracts on the same exchange. Johnson Matthey resets its base price for sponge four times a business day, at 08:30 and 14:30 Hong Kong time, 09:00 London and 09:30 US Eastern, a dealer's quote to its own wholesale customers rather than an auction-cleared price. China's GFEX platinum futures began trading on 27 November 2025 in physically settled 1,000-gram contracts priced in yuan per gram, giving Chinese investors an onshore platinum instrument for the first time.
Why One Day Can Produce Four Different Platinum Prices#
Platinum's January 2026 record read $2,923 per troy ounce on the WPIC series, $2,860 on Johnson Matthey's base price and $2,923.70 on NYMEX futures for the same event, because each is a different series measuring a different thing. The WPIC figure reflects spot-referenced trading on 26 January 2026, Johnson Matthey's figure reflects that firm's own sponge assessment for the same month, and the NYMEX figure reflects an exchange-traded futures print, so the three numbers are not competing measurements of one true price. Anyone comparing a chart against a headline should check which series produced each number before assuming they disagree; the year-by-year series for each is tracked on platinum price history.
Who Runs the Auction: Regulation and Governance#
IBA is authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority to administer the LBMA Platinum and Palladium Price under the UK Benchmarks Regulation, and it exercises no discretion: the auction's own Final Price is the sole input. IBA is also recognized by the European Securities and Markets Authority as an administrator of significant benchmarks located outside the EU. A Precious Metals Oversight Committee reviews the auction's methodology and settings at least once a year, and IBA runs a public consultation before any material change to either.
The LBMA Gold Price carries a different regulatory classification from its platinum and palladium siblings: it is a Significant benchmark under Title II of the EU Benchmarks Regulation, while the LBMA Silver, Platinum and Palladium Prices sit out of scope of the EU BMR entirely. An EU-based user of the platinum benchmark therefore answers to a lighter regime than an EU-based user of the gold benchmark, even though IBA runs both under the same UK FCA authorization.
Can You Get the LBMA Platinum Price for Free?#
A website cannot republish today's or historical LBMA Platinum and Palladium Price data for free: IBA states that a license is required to obtain, use or redistribute real-time or historical data, including for pricing and valuation use. The requirement covers live figures and historical tables alike, and it replaced the London Metal Exchange's own licensing terms on 1 July 2026; existing LME licenses did not carry over, so anyone who held one needs a separate agreement with IBA.
Some delayed pricing does appear to remain publicly visible on the LBMA and LPPM websites, though IBA's published free tier for LBMA precious metals data is worded as data available from midnight London time, and that wording is scoped, on IBA's licensing page, to gold and silver rather than to platinum and palladium by name. Because IBA only took over the two PGM benchmarks on 1 July 2026, whether that same free-tier wording already covers them is unconfirmed, so this page treats free, delayed data as likely rather than settled. Historical LBMA price tables now sit behind the MyLBMA Portal, which requires a valid IBA license even for registered members. Every dated figure on this site's price data sources page states which regime it falls under.
The London Platinum and Palladium Market stopped publishing its own historical platinum and palladium price series on the same date: "With effect from 1st July 2026 the LPPM will no longer be displaying historical prices for Pt and Pd." A reader who bookmarked the old LPPM history page will find it gone, not merely delayed.
LBMA Platinum and Palladium Prices: Related Pages and FAQ#
Readers who want a current number, a minor-PGM quote or a dealer premium have three dedicated pages from here. Each covers ground this page deliberately leaves out: today's tradeable quote, the pricing regime for the four PGMs that have no benchmark at all, and how retail products price against this one. The wider platinum group metals market, from mine supply to recycling, sits behind every one of these price pages.
Live Platinum and Palladium Prices Today#
Today's platinum and palladium prices come from a dealer spot quote rather than the licensed LBMA feed, updated continuously through the trading day in multiple currencies and weight units. Full detail sits on their own live price pages: platinum price today and palladium price today.
How Minor PGM Prices Are Quoted Without an LBMA Benchmark#
Rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium have no LBMA benchmark and no exchange at all; their prices come from refiner quotes instead. Johnson Matthey's base price covers rhodium, iridium and ruthenium alongside platinum and palladium, while osmium has no wholesale refiner quote of any kind, only a private institute's price for crystallized collector metal. How minor PGM prices are quoted sets out Johnson Matthey's, Heraeus's and Umicore's separate quotes side by side.
Premiums over the LBMA Price#
Coin, bar and industrial PGM prices trade at a premium or discount to the benchmark, not at it. A retail platinum coin costs more than the spot-referenced price because of fabrication and dealer margin, while scrap metal pays less once a refiner deducts its charge. Platinum premiums over spot tracks that markup by product type.
What does LBMA stand for?#
LBMA stands for the London Bullion Market Association, the trade body for the London precious metals market. The LBMA does not itself run the platinum and palladium auctions; ICE Benchmark Administration does that under the LBMA's benchmark family name.
Does the LBMA also set a gold and silver price?#
The LBMA also administers an LBMA Gold Price and LBMA Silver Price, run by the same IBA auction mechanism but classified differently: gold is a Significant benchmark under the EU Benchmarks Regulation, while platinum, palladium and silver sit out of its scope. IBA has administered the LBMA Gold Price since March 2015 and the LBMA Silver Price since October 2017, both years before it took over the two PGM benchmarks in July 2026.
Is the LBMA platinum price still administered by the LME?#
No. The London Metal Exchange stopped administering the LBMA Platinum and Palladium Price on 30 June 2026; ICE Benchmark Administration has run it since 1 July 2026. The LME had administered both PGM benchmarks since December 2014, so the 2026 handover ended an 11-and-a-half-year run.
Is the LBMA platinum price the same as the spot price on a dealer site?#
No. A dealer's "spot" platinum price is an indicative OTC quote, while the LBMA price is a regulated benchmark set by auction; the two can differ by the dealer's own bid-ask spread. A dealer quote updates continuously through the day, while the LBMA price exists only twice, at the moment each auction's Final Price publishes.