Despite its wide-ranging applications, ruthenium is an incredibly scarce metal, with a crustal abundance of only about 0.000037 parts per million. A significant challenge to its primary supply is that it cannot be mined independently; it is recovered exclusively as a 100% byproduct of platinum and palladium extraction. This inherent byproduct dependency means that its supply cannot be readily increased in direct response to rising demand, creating an inflexible supply base.
The global production of ruthenium is extraordinarily concentrated geographically. South Africa alone accounts for a dominant 90-92% of the global supply, with Russia contributing most of the remaining production. This extreme geographic concentration creates severe vulnerabilities within the global supply chain. Geopolitical factors, such as political instability in major producing regions, coupled with operational challenges like power shortages, labor disputes, and infrastructure limitations, directly impact the availability of ruthenium. For example, the period between 2020 and 2021 witnessed severe supply disruptions due to COVID-19 lockdowns, power shortages, and labor disputes in South Africa, alongside flooding at Nornickel operations in Russia.
The small annual market size, approximately 30,000 kg, further exacerbates these supply vulnerabilities. The absence of significant above-ground stocks to buffer supply disruptions means that even minor interruptions can lead to dramatic price swings. The market has experienced extreme price volatility; for instance, prices surged by 136% from $244.41 per troy ounce in 2018 to $576.12 per troy ounce in 2021, reaching a record high of $800 per troy ounce in June 2021. As of June 2025, current prices hover around $675 per troy ounce or $24.53 per gram, demonstrating continued fluctuations.
The combination of ruthenium's inherent scarcity and its status as a byproduct of other metal mining operations, coupled with its extreme geographic production concentration, directly contributes to significant supply chain vulnerabilities and pronounced price volatility. This dynamic underscores that for industries heavily reliant on ruthenium, developing a robust secondary supply chain through recycling is not merely an environmentally conscious choice but an economic imperative. It offers a crucial pathway to mitigate supply risks, ensure greater stability in material availability, and maintain industrial competitiveness in the face of unpredictable primary market conditions. The indispensable role of ruthenium in critical advanced technologies, such as high-performance electronics, chemical catalysts, and emerging fuel cell applications, combined with the precarious nature of its primary supply chain, elevates its status to that of a critical raw material. This implies that national and corporate strategies for resource security must increasingly prioritize and integrate robust secondary recovery and recycling initiatives to safeguard ongoing technological advancement and ensure broader economic stability.
Ruthenium can be recovered from various forms of scrap, which often include a mix of other precious metals or base materials. One significant source is spent catalysts, which come in the form of powder, pellets, or monoliths from industries such as petrochemical, chemical, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Another important source is sputtering targets and thin-film residues, typically generated during the production processes of electronics and hard disk drives.
Additionally, obsolete electronic components contribute to ruthenium recovery, with hard disk drive platters being the primary source, along with chip resistors and certain electrical contacts. Waste from plating baths also plays a role, as this material arises from electroplating operations where ruthenium coatings are applied. Furthermore, manufacturing scrap, which includes off-spec materials, trimmings, and residues from production lines in both electronics and catalyst manufacturing, can be processed for ruthenium recovery. Lastly, components from fuel cells, such as Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) and catalyst-coated membranes from spent fuel cells, serve as another valuable source of this precious metal.
The ruthenium market is notably characterized by extreme supply concentration and a dependency on byproducts. More than 90% of the primary supply of ruthenium comes from South Africa, with Russia providing most of the remaining share. This heavy geographic concentration poses significant geopolitical and logistical risks to the supply chain.
Moreover, ruthenium is not mined independently; rather, it is recovered as a byproduct during the extraction of platinum and palladium. Consequently, the availability of ruthenium is directly tied to the demand and production levels of these other platinum group metals (PGMs), resulting in unpredictability in its supply.
Scarcity is another defining feature of ruthenium. As one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust, the market size for ruthenium is relatively small—around 30 metric tons annually. This scarcity makes its price highly sensitive to minor disruptions in supply or fluctuations in demand, leading to significant price volatility.
Recycling plays a crucial role in the ruthenium market, yet the overall rates remain low. While advanced PGM recycling processes can achieve high recovery efficiencies—up to 95% for concentrated sources like industrial catalysts—the recovery rate for ruthenium from end-of-life consumer products, particularly electronic waste (e-waste), is substantially below 30%. This inefficiency stems from inadequate collection systems and the complex nature of extracting PGMs from various electronic components.
Regionally, demand for ruthenium is on the rise, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, driven by the expanding electronics manufacturing sector. While North America and Europe currently lead in established PGM recycling infrastructure, the Asia-Pacific is making rapid advancements in its recycling capabilities, spurred by the significant generation of e-waste. Increasing recycling efforts in this area will be essential to mitigate supply risks and satisfy the growing demand for ruthenium.
Recycling ruthenium from secondary sources offers compelling advantages:
The critical nature of ruthenium, coupled with its concentrated primary supply and low end-of-life recycling rates, makes it imperative for industries to embrace sustainable recovery practices. Industrial generators of ruthenium-bearing waste and recyclers have a pivotal role in establishing a more robust and circular supply chain for this vital metal.
Consider partnering with specialized and responsible refining partners that possess the advanced technologies and expertise to efficiently and ethically recover ruthenium from your waste streams. This not only turns waste into value but also contributes to global resource security and environmental stewardship.
Phoenix Refining specializes in the responsible and efficient recovery of ruthenium from a wide array of secondary sources. If your facility generates ruthenium-bearing scrap, contact Phoenix Refining today to turn your waste into value.