A Nobel prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2005 to a two-person team which showed how ruthenium could be used as an effective catalyst for many reactions. The biomedical and petrochemical industries were overjoyed. They could now switch from using pricier noble metals with this little-known element that was at the time trading for a few pennies per gram. Very soon after, ruthenium’s price spiked 20-fold as the meager stocks were wiped out and, seeing as how mines were unable to just scale up production, interest in the metal - and surely the spirits of many an executive - dropped. Ruthenium’s price dropped, too, on account that now nobody wanted it again.

Oh how times change! In the span of another decade ruthenium’s price has recovered to near its historical highs with the spot price charts signaling that it’s anything but run out of steam. Well, the lovefest is back on and it’s being wooed by none other than the same previous suitors. Why, what happened? In short, extreme pressure on the prices of the other platinum group metals has left them no choice this time. While ruthenium’s supply never expanded the demand on the other metals used in catalysts, particularly rhodium, has strained their availability to the point that now they’re happy to get anything that will work, the price be damned.

It’s a wonderful time for the metal traders who stand to profit. You and me, not so much. Seeing though how them’s the beans you might as well hedge your bets and pick up some while the price is still somewhat reasonable. After all, ruthenium is just about as rare as rhodium. And you might want to brace before checking out the price on a sample of that metal.