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Ruthenium prices hit record high as AI boom squeezes supply

By Thomson Reuters Mar 16, 2026 | 1:16 AM

By Anushree Mukherjee

March 16 (Reuters) – Ruthenium, a minor metal in the platinum-group metals (PGMs), has surged to an all-time high ​as supply constraints and growing demand ‌linked to artificial intelligence tighten the market, analysts and producers said.

Used in electronics, semiconductors, and chemical processing, ruthenium is seeing rising demand from AI-driven ‌data ​storage and cloud computing. ⁠Expansion in data centre ⁠capacity is lifting hard disk drive production, where the metal is used in magnetic layers.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Rashmi Aich)