Historically palladium had been a sleepy, little-traded precious metal mostly known only to industrialists and jewelers looking to offer cheaper alternatives to gold and platinum. That all changed starting in the 90’s when stricter vehicle emissions regulations here in the U.S. sent automakers scrambling over the Periodic Table in search of something that could undo the noxious fumes being produced in their engines.

Palladium turned out to be especially adept at taking nitrous oxides back into elemental gases thus neutralizing their deleterious effects in the environment. Demand for it grew steadily. On the other end of the scale the jewelry and bullion industries jumped in and began heavy marketing to cash in on the rising star. In turn, the mining industry strained to meet demand and in consequence its price rose steadily. A few years ago it leapfrogged over gold and platinum. Now at the top, it has never looked back and currently leads by a really wide margin in the most often traded precious metals category (eclipsed only by the totally crazy rhodium and iridium sub-sub-markets).

No one knows how long palladium’s streak will run. With the auto world eyeing switching from combustion to electric over the coming decades one would think Pd’s days are numbered but the truth is that industry experts still point to many new buyers finding applications where they sure could use a little more of it if only it wasn’t so damn expensive…. ironically all helping to keep prices near the historical highs.

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