The Palladium Market
Palladium price drivers
An introduction to palladium
Palladium is primarily used as a catalyst in the automotive sector, mainly in gasoline-powered on-road vehicles, and has displaced platinum in some parts of on-road diesel engine autocatalysts. The second main use of palladium is in electrical components, specifically in multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), as conductive pastes and in electrical plating.
From its humble beginnings in the 1970s and 1980s, the palladium market has grown to over 10 million ounces, mainly as a result of it being a substitute for platinum in autocatalysts for gasoline cars. Russian state stocks have dried up, whilst underlying global primary supply has hardly changed and palladium is now trading at a premium to platinum. However, with palladium overwhelmingly reliant on autocatalysts, accounting for 79% of demand, could this prove to be a 'boom or bust' situation?
Palladium price news and insights

The evolving nature of the PGM markets to 2040
19 October 2022 | Beresford Clarke
Available now, this unique report is an in-depth, forward-looking analysis of the current and long-term trends and influences acting on the global PGM markets to 2040.

The Palladium Standard – September 2022
15 September 2022 | Beresford Clarke
SFA (Oxford) launches its 2022 edition of The Palladium Standard featuring exclusive articles from James Steel at HSBC and Lakshya Gupta from SFA.
Older cars present a new problem for scrap palladium supply
21 November 2022 | SFA (Oxford & Heraeus
Gold could struggle to make headway until the Fed changes course
10 November 2022 | SFA (Oxford) & Heraeus
Dhanteras, Diwali and dowries may well boost India’s gold demand in Q4’22
31 October 2022 | SFA (Oxford) & Heraeus
More petroleum platinum demand at risk once Russian oil dries up in Europe
24 October 2022 | SFA (Oxford) & Heraeus
Palladium price in context, 1980 to 2022

Source: SFA (Oxford), Bloomberg. Updated September 2022.
Palladium market balance
koz | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022f | |
Primary palladium supply | |||||||||
Regional | |||||||||
South Africa | 2,560 | 2,375 | 2,530 | 2,500 | 2,555 | 1,845 | 2,750 | 2,475 | |
Russia | 2,605 | 2,555 | 2,740 | 2,670 | 2,870 | 2,810 | 2,585 | 2,710 | |
Zimbabwe | 325 | 395 | 395 | 380 | 385 | 405 | 395 | 445 | |
North America | 995 | 1,065 | 985 | 1,05 | 975 | 950 | 925 | 860 | |
Other | 455 | 420 | 415 | 395 | 395 | 385 | 265 | 270 | |
Total | 6,940 | 6,810 | 7,065 | 6,975 | 7,180 | 6,395 | 6,935 | 6,760 | |
Palladium demand and recycling |
|||||||||
Palladium autocatalyst demand | |||||||||
Gross Pd autocatalyst demand | 7,590 | 7,935 | 8,145 | 8,305 | 8,455 | 7,440 | 7,595 | 7,850 | |
Pd autocatalyst recycling | 1,605 | 1,605 | 1,920 | 2,035 | 2,175 | 2,010 | 2,380 | 2,465 | |
Net Pd autocatalyst demand | 5,985 | 6,220 | 6,225 | 6,270 | 6,280 | 5,430 | 5,215 | 5,385 | |
Palladium jewellery demand | |||||||||
Gross Pd jewellery demand | 245 | 240 | 215 | 215 | 215 | 200 | 215 | 225 | |
Pd jewellery recycling | 80 | 80 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 55 | 60 | 65 | |
Net Pd jewellery demand | 165 | 165 | 155 | 155 | 155 | 145 | 155 | 160 | |
Industrial palladium demand | 1,930 | 1,900 | 1,840 | 1,840 | 1,715 | 1,635 | 1,610 | 1,550 | |
Other palladium recycling | 430 | 390 | 380 | 370 | 365 | 335 | 415 | 365 | |
Gross palladium demand | 9,765 | 10,075 | 10,200 | 10,360 | 10,385 | 9,275 | 9,420 | 9,630 | |
Palladium recycling | 2,115 | 2,180 | 2,360 | 2,465 | 2,600 | 2,395 | 2,855 | 2,900 | |
Net palladium demand | 7,650 | 7,895 | 7,840 | 7,895 | 7,785 | 6,875 | 6,565 | 6,730 | |
Palladium market balance | |||||||||
Palladium balance (before ETFs) | -715 | -1,090 | -780 | -915 | -605 | -485 | 360 | 30 | |
Palladium ETFs (stock allocation) | -665 | -640 | -375 | -560 | -90 | -115 | 50 | ||
Palladium balance after ETFs | -45 | -450 | -400 | -355 | -520 | -370 | 310 | ||
Palladium price history | |||||||||
Palladium price (USD/oz) |
691 | 613 | 870 | 1,030 | 1,538 | 2,194 | 2,397 | ||
Palladium price (GBP/oz) | 452 | 457 | 674 | 773 | 1,205 | 1,707 | 1,739 | ||
Palladium price (EUR/oz) | 622 | 555 | 768 | 874 | 1,375 | 1,922 | 2,022 | ||
Palladium price (CNY/oz) | 4,333 | 4,082 | 5,861 | 6,827 | 10,641 | 15,117 | 15,471 | ||
Palladium price (ZAR/oz) | 8,741 | 8,956 | 11,580 | 13,673 | 22,247 | 35,940 | 35,294 | ||
Palladium price (JPY/oz) | 83,503 | 66,501 | 97,485 | 113,853 | 167,631 | 234,191 | 262,844 | ||
Source: SFA (Oxford). Updated September 2022.

Linked palladium market reports
SFA (Oxford) provides regular bespoke market intelligence reports on palladium as well as in-depth studies on recycling, metal flows and price setting.
Meet the PGM team
Trusted advice from a dedicated team of experts.

Henk de Hoop
Chief Executive Officer

Beresford Clarke
Managing Director: Technical & Research

Dr Jenny Watts
Head of Clean Energy & Sustainability

Dr Ralph Grimble
Operations Director

Jamie Underwood
Principal Consultant

Adele Rouleau
ESG and Critical Minerals Lead

Thomas Chandler
Principal Market Analyst

Oksan Atilan
Consulting Automotive Analyst

Alex Biddle
Senior Mining Analyst

Sandeep Kaler
Market Strategy Analyst

Gyubin Hwang
Hydrogen Market Analyst

Nelsa Martins
Senior Technical Consultant

Daniel Croft
Precious Metals Analyst

David Mobbs
Head of Marketing

Joel Lacey
Sales and Marketing Specialist

How can we help you?
SFA (Oxford) provides bespoke, independent intelligence on the strategic metal markets, specifically tailored to your needs. To find out more about what we can offer you, please contact us.