Ruthenium is the lightest platinum-group metal (Z=44) and is produced almost entirely as a byproduct of platinum mining from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa (~75% of world supply) and nickel-PGM mining at Russia's Norilsk complex (~12%). World primary Ru production is estimated at approximately 28–33 tonnes per year; USGS MCS 2025 does not separately report per-element world Ru tonnage, tabulating only palladium (190,000 kg, 2024e) and platinum (170,000 kg, 2024e) by country. In 2024, both South Africa and Russia experienced PGM production declines driven by falling prices, deep-level mining costs, electricity and labor disruptions, and geopolitical factors.

Unlike platinum (autocatalysts, jewelry) or palladium (gasoline autocatalysts), ruthenium's demand is dominated by industrial electrochemistry and electronics. The largest end use is ruthenium oxide (RuO₂) coating on dimensionally stable anodes (DSA) for the global chlor-alkali industry's electrolytic production of chlorine and caustic soda. Thick-film resistor pastes containing RuO₂ are foundational to surface-mount electronics manufacturing; ruthenium-based multilayer ceramic capacitors and chip resistors appear in virtually every electronic assembly. A sub-nanometer Ru interlayer in perpendicular magnetic recording hard disk drives enables the antiferromagnetic exchange coupling required for high-density storage — no commercially viable substitute for this application has been identified. Ammonia synthesis catalysts and PEM electrolyzer anodes for green hydrogen represent growing segments.

The annual average ruthenium price was $440 per troy ounce in 2024 (estimated), down 6% from $466.49 in 2023 and well below the 2021–2022 peak of ~$577/troy oz. The price approximately doubled between 2020 ($272/troy oz) and 2021–2022, driven by electrochemical and electronics demand, before declining modestly. This price trajectory is markedly more stable than palladium (−27% in 2024) and rhodium (−31%), reflecting Ru's insulation from autocatalyst demand cycles. Ruthenium is designated as critical under the US 2022 Critical Minerals List ("platinum-group metals") and the EU Critical Raw Materials Act 2024, with South African supply concentration, non-substitutability in DSA and hard disk applications, and Russian supply exposure as primary risk drivers.