Ruthenium prices hit record high as AI boom squeezes supply

By Anushree Mukherjee

March 16 (Reuters) - Ruthenium, a minor metal in the platinum-group metals (PGMs), has surged ‌to an all-time high as supply constraints and ‌growing demand linked to artificial intelligence tighten the market, analysts ​and producers said.

Used in electronics, semiconductors, and chemical processing, ruthenium is seeing rising demand from AI-driven data storage and cloud computing. Expansion in data centre capacity is ‌lifting hard disk ⁠drive production, where the metal is used in magnetic layers.

* Ruthenium prices were around $1,750 ⁠per ounce on March 13,according to data from LSEG, citing Johnson Matthey's benchmarkprices, up from $560 per ounce ​a year ​earlier. * "The fact that it's ​establishing itself as a 'preciousproxy ‌for the AI buildout', investors have likely also expandedpositioning," said Nicky Shiels, Head of Research & MetalsStrategy at MKS PAMP. * Wilma Swarts, director of PGMs at Metals Focus, predicts adeficit of 203,000 ounces in 2026. * Supply ‌remains structurally constrained because rutheniumis ​produced only as a by-product ​of PGM mining, ​largely in SouthAfrica. * Platinum group metals output ‌in South Africa fell 3.8%year-on-year ​in January ​2025, Statistics South Africa datashowed. * PGM production in South Africa has been declining forseveral years due ​to limited ‌investment in new mines over thepast two decades, ​Northam Platinum said.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Rashmi Aich)