Platinum is a very heavy, soft precious metal with a high melting point and strong resistance against corrosion. Because of these properties, it has a wide variety of uses in chemical and commercial industries. Its resistance to high temperatures makes it popular in jewelry, laboratories, automotive catalytic converters, and petroleum refining. It is also useful for electrical contacts and sparking points.

The New York Mercantile Exchange has made available an Asian platinum futures contract. The size of each contract is 500 grams and prices are quoted in U.S. dollars and cents per ton.

The contract is cash settled, and the final settlement price is the floating price calculated for each contract month. Final settlement is the third to last business day of the month preceding the named contract month.