Palladium: Characteristics
The catalyst that cleans petrol fumes cheaply
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 190 t mine output (2025e), down from 217 t in 2024; recycling 3,135 koz (about 97 t) | Russia mined 84 t and South Africa 70 t. Open-loop recycling supplied 32% of 2025 total supply. | USGS MCS 2026, Platinum-group metals; Johnson Matthey PGM Market Report 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | not published as a single figure | Visible stocks are NYMEX warehouse stocks and ETF holdings such as abrdn PALL. Nornickel historically held palladium stocks to smooth sales. There are no listed US stockpile disposals. | USGS MCS 2026; exchange data (qualitative) |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | Nornickel's Nadezhda smelter rebuild added 25% smelting capacity (2024). Sibanye-Stillwater cut Montana output after 2024 as prices fell; US mine output dropped from 10.2 t to 6.2 t in 2025. | Nornickel 2024; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | Russia 40.9%; top-3 (Russia, South Africa, Canada) 85.9%; HHI 3,136; Nornickel about 44% of mine output | Nornickel guided 2.68-2.73 Moz (about 84 t) for 2025. South African supply comes from Valterra, Implats, Sibanye-Stillwater and Northam. | World Mining Data 2024; Nornickel guidance via Reuters (Jul 2025) |
| Supply elasticity | very low: about 95% companionality with nickel and platinum | Norilsk mines for nickel and Bushveld mines mostly for platinum, so high palladium prices bring little new ore. Low prices cut supply only through closures of high-cost shafts. | Nassar et al. 2015; Johnson Matthey 2026 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | little new primary supply; recycling grows as the petrol fleet ages | Platreef (Ivanhoe) adds palladium-rich ore with platinum (indicative). Nornickel's South Cluster at Norilsk is its main growth project (indicative). Recycling lags new demand by 10-15 years of vehicle life. | Company announcements (indicative); Johnson Matthey 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | HS 711021 exports $9.3 billion (2024); US 25.7%, South Africa 21.2%, UK 16.0% of exports | Imports are led by the US (15.9%), Germany (15.6%) and Switzerland (11.9%). Russian metal increasingly flows to China and other non-sanctioning buyers, and a US trade case on Russian palladium in 2025 added friction. | UN Comtrade 2024 (HS 711021); US Commerce filings |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Palladium is the main catalyst metal for petrol-car exhausts because it oxidises carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons efficiently at lower cost than platinum for most of the past two decades. It also absorbs large amounts of hydrogen and resists corrosion, which suits electronics, dentistry and hydrogen purification. Purity and form (sponge or ingot) set where it can be sold.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purity | LPPM Good Delivery: at least 99.95% Pd, ingot or sponge | Sets deliverability in London, Zurich and on NYMEX | LPPM Good Delivery Rules |
| Catalytic activity | oxidises CO and hydrocarbons; light-off at lower temperature than platinum in petrol exhausts | About 81% of 2025 demand was autocatalysts | Johnson Matthey 2026 |
| Hydrogen absorption | absorbs up to about 900 times its own volume of hydrogen | Hydrogen purification membranes and sensors | CRC Handbook (indicative) |
| Density | 12.02 g/cm3 | Lightest PGM; more metal per ounce of volume than platinum | CRC Handbook |
| Melting point | 1,555 C | Stable in hot exhausts | CRC Handbook |
| Corrosion resistance | does not tarnish in air; attacked by nitric acid | Electronic contacts, MLCC electrodes and dental alloys | CRC Handbook |