manufactured · input

Spent Autocatalysts (Secondary PGM Feedstock)

End-of-life catalytic converters from gasoline and diesel vehicles are the largest secondary PGM source. Provides ~24% of total platinum supply. Processed at Heraeus (Hanau), Umicore (Hoboken), Sibanye Columbus MT. Recycling suppressed 2022–2024 due to low PGM prices (scrapyards hoarding catalysts).

4

Source countries

4

Companies

1

Goods affected

0

Claims on record

What depends on it

Goods that need this input

1 essential American goods rely on spent autocatalysts (secondary pgm feedstock) somewhere upstream in their supply chain.

Where it comes from

Source countries

Share of global supply, by country.

CountryShare of supply
BEBelgium25%
DEGermany22%
USUnited States20%
GBUnited Kingdom15%

Who makes it

Supplier companies

4 companies produce spent autocatalysts (secondary pgm feedstock).

Umicore NV/SA(UMI)

HQ BE25% share

Umicore N.V. (Brussels; Euronext: UMI; ~$4B revenue) is a global specialty materials and recycling company whose Hoboken, Belgium precious metals refinery is a major European indium producer. Umicore recovers indium from complex lead/copper metallurgical residues and dusts at its Hoboken smelter near Antwerp — a unique secondary-metallurgy process that differs from the primary zinc-smelter byproduct route used by most producers. Umicore's indium capacity is ~50 tonnes/year, representing ~3% of global output and making Belgium a meaningful EU indium source. Umicore is also the world's leading recycler of battery materials (cobalt, lithium) and catalysts; indium recovery at Hoboken is one component of a broader complex metals recovery operation. Umicore's Hoboken plant is one of the most technically sophisticated non-ferrous secondary smelters in the world.

Heraeus Precious Metals

HQ DE22% share

World's largest precious metals recycler and a major PGM refiner; Hanau (Germany) is primary site with €35M expansion by 2026 adding electrolytic lines; also operates PGM recycling in South Africa (Port Elizabeth), USA (Santa Fe Springs CA, Wartburg TN), China (Taicang), and India (Udaipur).

Johnson Matthey(JMAT)

HQ GB15% share

UK specialty chemicals and PGM company; publishes authoritative annual PGM Market Report; operates Royston (UK) and Brimsdown (UK) precious metals refineries and West Deptford (NJ, USA) catalyst plant; major automotive catalyst manufacturer.

Sibanye-Stillwater(SBSW)

HQ ZA12% share

South African mining group; only operator of US PGM mines (Stillwater and East Boulder, Montana); ~15% of SA PGM output; operates Columbus Metallurgical Complex (Montana) for US primary + recycled autocatalyst processing; filed AD/CVD petition against Russian palladium July 2025.