Outgoing Anglo Platinum CEO Ralph Havenstein says that there has been significant growth in the demand for ruthenium, particularly for use in hard disk drives, which is expected to continue to have a major influence in the market.
Although ruthenium has been used in disks before, it is deposited on newer types of hard disks to increase memory storage capacity. The main producers switched much of their production over to this new technology in 2006, leading to a surge in demand for ruthenium.
"We believe this is going to continue as we predicted," says Havenstein.
Johnson Matthey reports in 'Platinum 2007' that, following a year of strong growth in 2005, ruthenium demand grew again in 2006, rising 45% to record a level of 1,29-million ounces.
The electronics industry generated most of the increase in ruthenium demand, with substantial uptake for use in chip resistors, flat-screen displays and hard disks. Net electronic demand for the metal shot 78% to 689 000 oz as a result.
Although ruthenium has been used in disks before, it is deposited on newer types of hard disks to increase memory storage capacity. The main producers switched much of their production over to this new technology in 2006, leading to a surge in demand for ruthenium.
"We believe this is going to continue as we predicted," says Havenstein.
Johnson Matthey reports in 'Platinum 2007' that, following a year of strong growth in 2005, ruthenium demand grew again in 2006, rising 45% to record a level of 1,29-million ounces.
The electronics industry generated most of the increase in ruthenium demand, with substantial uptake for use in chip resistors, flat-screen displays and hard disks. Net electronic demand for the metal shot 78% to 689 000 oz as a result.
