Discovery and Nomenclature

Palladium (#Palladium #Pd): With the element symbol Pd, it is one of the platinum group metals (#platinum group metals). It was first successfully isolated from crude platinum in 1803 by the British chemist and physicist William Hyde Wollaston, thus gaining its own name "Palladium". The name derives from Pallas-Athena, a new asteroid discovered in 1802. This asteroid honors Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and craftsmanship.

Properties and Specifications

Palladium metal (#palladium metal), similar to platinum, boasts excellent properties. Under normal conditions, it does not oxidize or lose its luster in air, making it a rare precious metal resource for jewelry processing (#precious metal for jewelry). The density of palladium metal is 12.023 grams per cubic centimeter. It has relatively high hardness (Mohs hardness 4-4.5, slightly harder than platinum) and relatively low density (around 12 g/cm³). It is not easily oxidized or loses its luster under normal conditions: oxides form on its surface at around 400°C, but it regains its luster when the temperature rises to 900°C.

Palladium is cheaper than platinum. In the jewelry industry, it is used alone or as a component in alloys with gold, silver, and platinum. Sometimes a small amount of ruthenium is added to increase its hardness. Common in the market are gold-palladium karat gold and platinum-palladium alloys. Specification markings include Pd1000, Pd950, and Pd900 (#Pd1000 #Pd950 #Pd900).

Advantages and disadvantages of palladium jewelry

Yihui Casting, as a source of craftsmanship in the jewelry casting industry for over 20 years, has specially compiled the distinct advantages and disadvantages of palladium jewelry, hoping to help you better understand palladium and enable more people to better engage in palladium processing or determine whether palladium jewelry is the consumer choice you need.

Advantages:

1. Extremely high purity and skin-friendly: Common purities of palladium jewelry include Pd990 (fine palladium) and others, which are of very high purity. It is suitable for the skin and does not cause skin allergies.   2. Rare and unique: Palladium is one of the world’s rarest precious metals (#rare precious metal). Its reserves are only about one-sixth of platinum’s, and its global output is also far lower than that of gold. This makes palladium jewelry appear unique and precious.   3. Durable and wear-resistant: Palladium is harder than platinum (platinum only becomes highly hard and wear-resistant when alloyed with other metal elements, while palladium is naturally highly hard and wear-resistant). Therefore, palladium jewelry is not easily deformed during wear and is more suitable for setting gemstones.   4. Retains its luster over time: Thanks to its stable chemical properties, palladium is not easily oxidized or loses its luster under normal conditions, and can maintain its silvery-white and bright luster for a long time.

Disadvantages

1.High processing difficulty: Due to palladium's unique chemical and physical properties, it is quite difficult to process. It tends to splash during smelting, resulting in significant metal loss. However, these issues—such as fragility and grayish-black marks after welding—only occurred in the early manufacturing stage when palladium processing technology was immature. Now, with increasingly sophisticated technology, these problems can be completely resolved by choosing reliable processing equipment and technologies. As an innovative leader and one-stop solution provider in the jewelry casting industry, Yihui Casting (#one-stop jewelry casting solution) can fully help you address concerns related to precious metal casting (#precious metal casting).

2.Low market awareness: Discovered much later than platinum, palladium is not well-known to most consumers. Its market awareness and popularity are not as high as those of platinum and K gold.

Yihui Casting kindly reminds you that due to palladium's inherent properties, the processing and production of palladium jewelry are particularly complex, with high requirements for every process. Therefore, palladium jewelry may occasionally have the issue of being prone to breakage, so please exercise caution when wearing it. Additionally, as palladium jewelry has relatively high hardness, it is best to store your palladium jewelry separately to avoid scratching each other with other jewelry due to friction. Compared with platinum and K gold, palladium jewelry has its own strengths and weaknesses. However, these metals are similar in color, which can easily confuse consumers when purchasing. So it is recommended that you check carefully the metal hallmark on the jewelry when buying.

Palladium Supply and Demand (#palladium supply and demand)

As of the end of 2024, the world's proven natural reserves are approximately over 81,000 tons, of which palladium accounts for 32%. China's proven natural reserves of platinum group metal mineral resources stand at 87.06 tons, mainly distributed in Gansu Province, Yunnan Province and other regions.

The global annual mineral supply of palladium is about 190 tons, with a slight decrease over the past three years. South Africa, Russia, Zimbabwe, the United States and Canada together account for more than 97% of the global output. Among them, South Africa contributes 38.1% and Russia 39.6%. Russia is home to Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest palladium producer.

Palladium's catalytic properties (#palladium catalytic properties), relative abundance and price advantage over platinum have made it widely used in various end-uses. These applications range from automotive catalytic converters (#automotive catalytic converters) and industrial applications (#palladium industrial applications) to jewelry. Industrial applications include the production of hydrogen peroxide and petrochemicals, as well as semiconductor manufacturing in electronic and medical applications.

Palladium's primary downstream application is in automotive catalysts for fuel-powered vehicles, used to reduce harmful emissions from gasoline vehicles. For the fuel-powered vehicle industry, palladium's catalytic properties make it an indispensable component in gasoline vehicle catalytic converters, helping to reduce harmful emissions.

In terms of the geographical distribution of automotive catalyst demand, the annual palladium demand for automotive catalysts in China, Europe, Japan, and North America in 2024 was 41.11 tons, 51.20 tons, 20.38 tons, and 54.32 tons respectively. China accounts for 17% of global demand, and its automotive market exerts significant influence on global palladium demand.

Industrial demand is also an important segment for palladium, but its share of total demand has declined from 25% in 2010 to approximately 11% currently.

Palladium materials boast high reliability, high stability, irreplaceability and recyclability. They are widely used in various fields of the national economy, national defense construction and high and new technologies, and are hailed as the "vitamin of modern industry". In the field of palladium processing, they are mainly used for glass melting, bushing plates and crucibles. Jewelry is also a downstream product of palladium. Currently, the annual demand for palladium in the jewelry industry is about 2.4 tons, accounting for approximately 0.8% of the total annual demand.

In 2022 and 2023, there will be a shortage of supply and demand in the global palladium market, mainly due to power supply issues in South Africa, as well as the upgrading and maintenance of mining equipment by Russian mining companies caused by Western sanctions, and the impact of natural disasters such as floods in North America. With the gradual disappearance of the above-mentioned natural influencing factors, the gradual production of new mines, and the joint promotion of recycling and supply, the supply shortage situation has eased. China's domestic dependence on palladium metal is high, which is compensated for through large-scale imports and small-scale recycling. In 2024, China imported approximately 28.07 tons of platinum throughout the year.

Palladium Market Price Volatility and Reminder (#palladium price volatility)

As a member of precious metals (#precious metals), the overall price trend of the precious metals sector has been consistent in the long run, but the trends vary in different periods. We conduct price correlation analysis by dividing three time intervals: long-term (since the beginning of 2010, driven by the development of China's automotive industry), medium-term (since the beginning of 2022, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict), and short-term (since the beginning of 2025, with concerns over U.S. tariffs triggering a rush to ship gold and silver precious metals, and platinum and palladium prices following suit with gains).

After mid January 2025, the Shanghai gold market will break through the upper edge of the oscillation range since late November 2024. In the first quarter, due to concerns about the possibility of the Trump administration imposing tariffs on precious metals such as gold in the future, the huge uncertainty before the implementation of tariff policies has boosted market risk aversion, leading to a significant increase in precious metal prices. In the second quarter, the market was faced with multiple disturbance factors such as Trump's tariff escalation, Israel Iraq and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which pushed up risk aversion, and precious metal prices rose and fell. In the third quarter, China continued to increase its gold reserves. Chairman Powell of the Federal Reserve expressed a dovish stance at the Jackson Hole Central Bank Annual Meeting, and expectations of interest rate cuts were strengthened by easing inflation data in August and weak performance in the US job market. As a result, gold and silver prices further rose. During this period, platinum and palladium followed the upward trend of gold and silver prices.

Concluding Reminder

As an innovative leader in the precious metal casting industry, Yihui Casting kindly reminds you that in recent years—especially since January this year—the precious metals market has been plagued by superimposed risks. These include U.S. unilateral tariff policies, volatile expectations of Federal Reserve policies, prolonged shutdowns of the U.S. federal government, and escalating geopolitical conflicts. With rising volatility risks, industry practitioners and consumers looking to purchase jewelry should respond timely and rationally to their inventory and consumption needs.

Yihui Casting Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2003. After more than 20 years of accumulation, Yihui has now developed into a national high-tech enterprise that integrates research and development, production, sales, consulting, installation, and training of lost wax casting equipment, and provides one-stop solutions for metal casting. Yihui Casting Technology products include metal casting equipment, casting wax, graphite products, quartz products, etc., which are exported to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, America and other regions. The company has its own R&D team, which independently develops and produces automated vacuum die-casting machines, G20 vacuum bead scattering machines, and intelligent system D3 vacuum pressure casting machines, breaking the industry's long-standing dependence on imported high-performance jewelry equipment.

For more information about Yihui Casting Technology Co., Ltd., please visit our official website or contact our team.website: www.yihuicasting.com      email : info@yihuicasting.com     whatsapp : +86-13802830498