After a months-long downward trend, the price of the precious metal ruthenium has skyrocketed in a very short space of time. We shed light on possible causes.
The Platinum group metal ruthenium has risen in price by over 20 per cent in just a few days. After a predominantly downward trend in recent months, the price has now even exceeded the last high of February 2024.
Industry experts see current developments on the part of customers as the main reason for this. The largest consumer of the rare precious metal, which is obtained exclusively as a by-product of platinum mining, is the electronics industry. Ruthenium is mainly used here as a coating layer in the magnetic discs of conventional hard disk drives (HDDs) to increase storage capacity. HDDs are used in particular where large amounts of data are generated, for example in data centres, cloud storage and also in computers.
Demand in this sector has risen again, and leading producers of hard drives and other digital storage media have stocked up heavily on material, says TRADIUM precious metals expert Philipp Götzl-Mamba. This is happening in an illiquid market: with an annual production volume of just under 30 tonnes and comparatively few market participants, such movements could have a major impact and encourage dynamic price developments.
"The low and less scalable availability is currently fuelling the price increase. Something similar could already be observed around three years ago, when ruthenium showed a performance of over 200 per cent within a few months. However, caution is advised if unknown stocks find their way onto the market."
There are also possible Russian export restrictions, which could also affect platinum group metals, Götzl-Mamba continues. The Russian Ministry of the Interior announced this in the middle of the month in response to Western sanctions in connection with the war in Ukraine. Titanium, nickel and uranium were mentioned in particular, but a complete list of possible raw materials has not been published.
Although still speculation at present, corresponding restrictions could have a direct impact on supply chains. Although Russia has only just under four per cent share in the worldwide Promotion of rutheniumHowever, a delivery stop would not be without consequences due to the highly concentrated market situation.
