Palladium

Overview

Palladium is a silvery-white platinum-group metal (PGM), first isolated by William Hyde Wollaston in 1803. It is an effective catalyst, notably for hydrogenation, and is non-toxic.¹²

Its main use is in catalytic converters for vehicle exhausts. Palladium is the dominant PGM in gasoline autocatalysts, and around 80–83% of total palladium use has been linked to the automotive sector in recent years.²

Palladium is critical because two countries, Russia and South Africa, supply most of it, and Russian metal has been caught up in sanctions and trade disputes since 2022. The United States lists palladium as a critical mineral, and the EU covers it through its "Platinum Group Metals" entry on both the critical and the strategic raw materials lists.³⁴

Where it comes from

Unlike platinum, palladium is largely a by-product: the US critical minerals assessment classes it as a by-product of nickel and platinum mining.³ Russia is the world's leading producer of mined palladium, mostly from nickel-copper ores at Norilsk-Talnakh, while South Africa produces it with platinum from the Bushveld Complex.⁵²

World mine production was an estimated 190 t in 2025. Russia supplied about 84 t and South Africa about 70 t. Russian output fell by an estimated 6% owing to lower grades and ore recovery, uncertainty related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and new equipment at one operation. US output fell by about 40% because one mine in Montana remained on care-and-maintenance status.⁵

• Russia84 t · 43%
• South Africa70 t · 36%
• Canada16 t · 8%
• Zimbabwe15 t · 8%
• United States6.2 t · 3%
• Other countries2.9 t · 1%

USGS reports production in kilograms of metal content, converted here to metric tons (1,000 kg = 1 t). World total shown is the sum of USGS country estimates; USGS rounds it to 190 t. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Platinum-Group Metals

Johnson Matthey, which counts Russian sales rather than mine output, puts 2025 primary supply at 205.0 t, including 91.8 t from Russia, because Norilsk Nickel sold down inventory built up since 2020. It expects primary supply to fall to 187.6 t in 2026, as Norilsk Nickel guides to its lowest palladium output since at least 2005.⁶

What it is used for

Global palladium demand was 315.3 t in 2025, of which automotive catalysts took about 81%.⁶ In three-way catalytic converters, palladium works with platinum and rhodium to limit hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from gasoline engines.²

{{chart:end-uses}}

Outside vehicles, palladium is used in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), connector plating and hybrid integrated circuits, in catalysts for hydrogenation and for making purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and in dental alloys and jewelry.²⁶

After 14 years of deficits, Johnson Matthey forecasts a small palladium surplus in 2026, as autocatalyst recycling recovers and demand falls by about 9%.⁶

Grades and forms

Refined palladium is traded mainly as bars and sponge. Bars delivered on the London and Zurich markets must meet LPPM Good Delivery rules: a minimum fineness of 99.95% and a weight of 1 to 6 kg.⁷

Trade and policy

The United States relied on imports for 57% of its palladium consumption in 2025, up from 34% in 2024. In 2021–24 its main sources were South Africa (37%), Russia (36%), Belgium (6%) and Canada (6%).⁵ Several former large buyers of Russian palladium, including the UK, Germany, South Korea and Japan, have cut or stopped purchases since 2022, leaving Norilsk Nickel more dependent on China.⁶

This section is factual background, not legal or trade-compliance advice.

Recycling and substitution

Recycling is a large part of supply. Open-loop recycling, mostly of spent autocatalysts, supplied 97.4 t of palladium in 2025, and Johnson Matthey expects double-digit growth in autocatalyst recycling in 2026.⁶ In the United States, about 50,000 kg of palladium was recovered from catalytic converters in 2025.⁵

Palladium and platinum can partly replace each other in autocatalysts, depending on engine type, emission rules and relative metal costs. Palladium had largely displaced platinum in gasoline catalysts, but platinum is now returning to some gasoline applications.² In mainstream MLCCs, palladium has already been widely replaced by nickel and copper electrodes, and dental use is declining as ceramics gain share. Over the long term, battery electric vehicles, which need no autocatalyst, reduce demand.²

Sources

1. Palladium: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

2. PGM Fact Sheet: Palladium (May 2026). International Platinum Group Metals Association, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals (90 FR, 7 November 2025). Federal Register, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. EU critical raw materials. European Commission Joint Research Centre (RMIS), accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

5. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Platinum-Group Metals. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. PGM Market Report May 2026. Johnson Matthey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

7. Good Delivery Rules. London Platinum and Palladium Market, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

8. LPPM Good Delivery Platinum and Palladium Update. London Platinum and Palladium Market, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

9. Unwrought Palladium From Russia; Determinations (Inv. Nos. 701-TA-776 and 731-TA-1761, Final). Federal Register (U.S. International Trade Commission), accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩²

10. Final Determination: Antidumping Duty Investigation of Unwrought Palladium from the Russian Federation. International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

11. Final Affirmative Determination: Countervailing Duty Investigation of Unwrought Palladium from the Russian Federation. International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

12. Sibanye-Stillwater appeals US decision over Russian palladium import dumping. Engineering News, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩