Russian giant Norilsk pushing palladium for cars, jewellery

Norilsk Nickel will promote palladium as an alternative to platinum on the world market, especially for jewellery and in automobiles, where palladium is already in widespread use, the Moscow Times reports.

Palladium has been on the move, stealing 15 percent of platinum’s share of the automobile catalytic converter market in recent years. This is largely owing to palladium’s relatively low cost; palladium is roughly half the price of platinum: $749/oz compared to $1,520/oz.

In 2012, palladium accounted for over 14% of Norilsk’s revenue.

Norilsk Nickel is the largest mining company in Russia, and the world’s no. 1 producer of palladium and nickel.

The Russian giant produces four main metals – nickel, copper, palladium, and platinum and a variety of by-products, such as cobalt, rhodium, silver, gold, tellurium, selenium, iridium, and ruthenium.