Platinum has the makings of being the commodity story of 2010. Right now, the stars are aligned for this super rare metal, and this year I expect it will even outperform gold and silver.

Over the last three months Platinum prices have already risen 15.8%. And that’s set to continue.

So why are investors worldwide getting so excited about platinum? Let me tell you.

First of all, the supply of platinum is really tight.

When the world asks for more of the stuff, the industry is stuck in first gear and just can’t increase the supply. For instance, it’s taken the industry thirty years to just double production.

This is partly because it’s so rare. For every trillion particles in the earth’s crust, just three parts of them are platinum. Last year the entire industry managed to squeeze out just six million ounces, which would fit in a box measuring two metres on each side!

Second, demand is rising fast.

The four main groups of users take everything the industry can provide already. With demand rising, a global platinum deficit is on the way.

Autocatalyst manufacturers are the most notorious users of platinum, but last year they used just over a quarter of the supply. Between them and other industrial users, such as computer hard disk manufacturers, they bought about half of global platinum supply last year.

If the global economy continues to recover, these two groups will need more platinum.

Funnily enough, the biggest users of platinum were jewellery manufacturers. They took up 42% of supply last year.

They mopped up what other industries didn’t need that year.

And now the world has got an increasing taste for platinum jewellery. The Chinese platinum market is in its early days but is taking off fast. This has the scope to be a huge destination for the world’s platinum.

But the most exciting source of platinum demand by a mile is the new kid on the block - the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

Between 2006 and 2009 they have gone from zero, to ten per cent of the market. They buy the metal and hold it on behalf of investors. The Investors can then buy a portion of the platinum, like they were buying a share in a company. It’s an easy way to invest directly in the metal.

For example, Gold ETFs do this and have been a massive winner. The one on the New York Stock Exchange has now got the sixth largest gold holdings in the world.

And platinum ETFs are also growing rapidly. A new platinum ETF (ETFS Physical Platinum shares) listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month.

Investors buy in for one reason - they expect future price rises. This new ETF has been given a whopping seven percent allocation of the world’s platinum supply.

This is game-changing news for two reasons.

Firstly there isn’t a spare seven percent to go around. It’s just not there.

Secondly the ETF puts a massive investor base in front of the platinum market which is basically miniscule. It’s just a tenth of the size of the gold market which in the big picture is also tiny.

So ETFs will mop up at least 17% of the market this year. If the new ETF is a success, it will grow and others may follow its footsteps.

Make no mistake; demand for platinum is on the rise.

So we have the makings of a perfect storm:

• Super-tight supply.
• Rising demand from multiple users.

This is exactly what I’m always searching and hoping to uncover for Diggers and Drillers readers: A commodity right in the centre of a perfect storm.

In mid-December, platinum was ticking all the boxes and then some. So, I tipped a stock that was well placed to reap the benefits. Already, Diggers & Drillers readers that acted on the tip are already enjoying fifty percent gains on their investment within a month.

From where I’m sitting, platinum looks like it is going to have a great ride well beyond the end of this year as well. Even before the new ETF burst onto the scene, there was already a forecast platinum shortage for the next few years. The ETF will only multiply this shortage.

And where there’s a shortage there’s a price rise.