Explained: Why palladium, which powered Iron Man's arc reactor, is more expensive than gold

Palladium is the priciest precious metal now, more expensive than gold.

Palladium? Isn't that what powered the Iron Man's arc reactor?

That's right. Palladium was in the core of the reactor that powered the Marvel's superhero.

Ok. But what really is palladium?

It is one of the four precious metals. The other three are - platinum, gold and silver. Palladium has now become the most expensive.

It is mostly found in the platinum and nickle mines in South Africa and Russia. Palladium is a by-product from mining platinum and nickle.

Russia's PJSC Norlisk Nickel is the largest miner of palladium in the world. About 40 percent of its revenues come from palladium.

What is it used for, apart from, err.. powering the Iron Man?

Nearly all of it is used by the auto industry, which needs palladium to make vehicles cleaner.

As a Bloomberg report points out, Palladium helps to convert all the toxic gases, which the vehicles emit, into carbon dioxide and water vapour. With auto companies world over becoming more green conscious, and consumers too willing to spend more for a car that is 'cleaner,' usage of palladium has increased exponentially. Palladium is used in catalytic converters, the device that controls exhaust emission.

Apart from the auto sector, palladium is also used in dentistry and jewellery.

So, by how much has its price spiked?

Nearly by 50 percent this year alone. Around the same time last year, palladium was at $900 an ounce. Today it is trading around $1800 an ounce.

Why has the price spiked up so much?

Multiple factors. One, because of its short supply. In fact, for more than five years now, demand growth has been outpacing supply.

And the demand, like earlier mentioned, is mainly increasing because of the auto markers who now require palladium more and more. As with other metals, China is again a factor here and is pushing up the demand and the price of palladium.

As with other commodities that are in scarce amount, in the case of palladium too, the speculators have played a role in driving the price.

This is not the first time that its prices have rocketed. The earlier mentioned Bloomberg report says that over five years from 1996, palladium prices shot up nine-fold.

So how long will this craze for palladium last? Anyways, Iron Man is dead. 

Tough to say. Some of the shortage eased earlier this year, but demand from automakers is unabated. A Reuters report quotes an analyst predicting palladium prices to go north of $2,000 an ounce, in the near future.

And by the way, superheroes  - just like precious metals - keep coming back.  Never say never.