Top Industries purchasing Ruthenium (Ru)
Ruthenium is a rare platinum-group metal (PGM) characterized by its extreme hardness and resistance to chemical attack.
Major Individual Company Purchasers
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.
Ruthenium is a rare platinum-group metal (PGM) characterized by its extreme hardness and resistance to chemical attack.
| Rank | Industry | Volume (MT) | % Usage | Primary Applications |
| 1 | Electronics (Data Storage) | ~14.50 | 51.8% | Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) layers in HDDs. |
| 2 | Chemical (Chlor-alkali) | ~4.75 | 17.0% | Dimensionally Stable Anodes (DSA) for chlorine production. |
| 3 | Electronics (Chip Mfg) | ~3.10 | 11.1% | Resistors, lead frames, and emerging copper-capping layers. |
| 4 | Hydrogen Technology | ~2.20 | 7.9% | PEM electrolyzer catalysts and ammonia cracking. |
| 5 | Petrochemicals | ~1.40 | 5.0% | Catalysts for ammonia synthesis and Fischer-Tropsch. |
| 6 | Medical & Pharmaceutical | ~0.65 | 2.3% | Cancer-fighting drugs (Ruthenium complexes) and tracers. |
| 7 | Jewelry & Luxury Goods | ~0.45 | 1.6% | Hardening agent for platinum/palladium and dark plating. |
| 8 | Aerospace & Defense | ~0.35 | 1.3% | High-temperature superalloys for jet engine components. |
| 9 | Automotive (Traditional) | ~0.25 | 0.9% | Specialized spark plug tips and exhaust sensors. |
| 10 | Optical & Glass | ~0.15 | 0.5% | Reflective coatings and specialized glass-to-metal seals. |
| 11 | Renewable Energy (Solar) | ~0.08 | 0.3% | Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) and advanced PV research. |
| 12 | Nuclear Energy | ~0.05 | 0.2% | Fission product research and waste vitrification tracers. |
| 13 | Telecommunications | ~0.04 | 0.1% | High-reliability electrical contacts in 5G infrastructure. |
| 14 | Fertilizer Production | ~0.02 | <0.1% | Catalysts for the synthesis of nitrogen-based fertilizers. |
| 15 | Water Treatment | Trace | <0.1% | Electrochemical oxidation for industrial effluent. |
| 16 | Quantum Computing | Trace | <0.1% | Low-temperature superconducting thin films. |
| 17 | Marine Engineering | Trace | <0.1% | Cathodic protection systems for ship hulls. |
| 18 | Watchmaking | Trace | Trace | Decorative black/grey DLC coatings for movements. |
| 19 | Fuel Cells (Portable) | Trace | Trace | Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) for remote sensors. |
| 20 | Nanotechnology | Trace | Trace | Ruthenium nanoparticles for academic R&D. |
Major Individual Company Purchasers
- Seagate Technology / Western Digital: These two giants are the primary global purchasers of ruthenium. It is sputtered onto the platters of high-capacity hard drives to increase data density.
- BASF SE: A major chemical purchaser that uses ruthenium for industrial-scale catalytic processes, particularly in the production of ammonia and specialty organic chemicals.
- De Nora: The world leader in electrode coatings; they purchase significant volumes of ruthenium to manufacture anodes for the global chlorine and caustic soda industry.
- Johnson Matthey: A leading PGM refiner and fabricator that purchases ruthenium to create specialized catalysts for the pharmaceutical and green hydrogen sectors.
- Samsung Electro-Mechanics: Utilizes ruthenium for the production of chip resistors and other high-precision electronic components found in smartphones and EVs.
- Plug Power / Thyssenkrupp Nucera: These hydrogen technology leaders are increasing their ruthenium offtake for use in next-generation Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer stacks.
- Heraeus Precious Metals: A primary global distributor and purchaser that processes ruthenium for the medical imaging and aerospace industries.
- Tanaka Precious Metals: A key Japanese purchaser and processor that supplies the Asian semiconductor and automotive electronics markets.
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.