Rh
#45 · 102.91
The wild one

Rhodium

The rarest and most volatile of the platinum group. Only about one million ounces are mined a year, almost all as a by-product. Its price has swung from under 1,000 to nearly 30,000 dollars an ounce within a decade.

Why it matters

  • Essential for removing nitrogen oxides in gasoline-car catalysts.
  • No futures market, so prices move on physical supply and demand alone.
  • Cannot be mined on its own, so higher prices do not bring new supply.

Used in

Catalytic convertersGlass manufacturingChemical catalystsMirror coatings

Supply

Almost entirely a by-product of South African platinum mining.

Demand

Autocatalysts above all, then glass fiber manufacturing and chemical catalysts.

Role in the portfolio

Opportunistic allocation. Thin market, huge swings, and the AI Agent trades the extremes.