20 October 2026
Ruthenium Prices Rise 109% in 12 Months as AI Infrastructure Demand Grows
Key insights from this briefing
Why have ruthenium prices increased?
Ruthenium prices have increased 109.43% over the past 12 months, reaching US$1,780.14 per troy ounce according to Critical Minerals Platform (CMP) pricing data dated 13 October 2026. Demand from data storage, electronics and industrial applications, alongside constrained platinum-group metal supply, has contributed to market pressure. CMP currently rates ruthenium's physical supply risk as High.
What is CMP Verified Pricing?
CMP Verified Pricing is the Critical Minerals Platform's designation for reference prices assessed under its proprietary pricing methodology. CMP publishes mineral specifications, price units, pricing bases, reference dates and confidence assessments to help users interpret its data. CMP prices are independent market reference prices and may differ from individual transaction or contract prices.
Excerpt from this briefing's Industry Insight
Ruthenium prices have increased 109.43% over the past 12 months, reaching US$1,780.14 per troy ounce according to Critical Minerals Platform (CMP) Verified Pricing, dated 13 October 2026.
Ruthenium plays an important role in hard disk drive technology used in data centres and cloud computing. Johnson Matthey expects data-centre expansion to lift demand for ruthenium in hard disk drives to a five-year high in 2026, even as overall ruthenium demand is forecast to decline.
The metal also has important applications in electronics, industrial catalysts and advanced manufacturing.
Supply remains concentrated, with most ruthenium recovered as a by-product of platinum-group metal production in South Africa and Russia. This limits producers' ability to respond rapidly to changing market conditions.
CMP currently rates ruthenium's physical supply risk as High.