PGM uses

Demand figures shown in the graph above represent the sum of industry demand for "new" metal in that application in 2023 as reported by our member Johnson Matthey, net of any closed-loop recycling (i.e. where industry participants retain ownership of the metal).

Automotive demand includes platinum use for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs), although this number is still comparably small.
The petroleum refining number contains the demand to produce biodiesel.
Overall, the automotive industry still makes up over 80% of total PGM demand, especially palladium and rhodium.

We encounter PGMs every day in a great variety of applications that are all designed to improve lives. Many products we use contain PGMs or have been produced with the use of PGMs.

If you are reading this from a laptop computer screen, the glass is probably made using PGM equipment, and the disks in your hard drive are coated with PGM metals. When you are out driving PGMs, ensure that your airbag operates properly and that the catalytic converter reduces your exhaust emissions. As you and your family sleep at night, the smoke detector that will alert you to the risk of fire, relies on PGMs.

And if you are ever faced with the tragedy of you or one of your loved ones developing cancer, then it could be PGMs that will be at the forefront of treatment.

A little goes a long way

As a result of their high cost of production, PGMs are expensive in comparison with other metals. This leads to a highly economical and responsible usage in applications, such as catalytic converters to control vehicle exhaust emissions, and to value-driven recycling: Due to their high value, the attractiveness to recover PGMs from end-of-life products is extremely high. Industrial users of PGMs constantly assess the opportunities for "thrifting", i.e. reducing the amount of PGMs used while maintaining their great efficiency in all sorts of applications.