Mumbai: The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) plans to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the precious metal, and a coin-based fund in Europe in 2017, an executive of the council said on Wednesday. “We are working on two deals in China for investment products. ETF and retail platinum bars with a big state-run enterprise,” said Marcus Grubb, director of market development at WPIC, which was formed by leading platinum producers to develop investor demand for the metal.

India is the world’s second-biggest gold consumer, but platinum jewellery has become increasingly popular in the past few years with sales rising by 25-30 per cent a year, Grubb said. The council will also launch a USD 50 million coin-based platinum fund in Europe, he said.