![iridium metal price forecast iridium metal price forecast](http://www.preciousmetalscommoditymanagement.com/uploads/1/2/6/8/126807953/picture30_orig.gif)
The 2021 Heraeus Precious Metals Forecast expects the iridium price to be between $2,000/oz and $5,000/oz during 2021. Availability should improve this year and next, as Anglo American Platinum treats a large backlog of semi-processed PGM. The processing pipeline for the minor PGMs is unusually long: several months may pass between mining the metals, and final refining. The unusual price movements primarily reflect a temporary lack of liquidity in the Iridium market following the ACP outages. In May 2021 the price had stabilised at around $6,300/oz – by far the highest price ever seen for this metal. The price reached a record $3,050/oz at the end of 2020, as supply was limited, and then $4,000/oz in January, pausing for breath briefly during February. These price gains were slow and moderate during 2017–19, but accelerated abruptly in late 2020, as outages at Anglo American Platinum’s converter plant (ACP) coincided with a post-Covid recovery in demand. Since then, a series of deficits has gradually consumed available above-ground stocks, leading to upward pressure on the price. The price traded below US$1,000/oz during 2014–17, reflecting periodic selling of producer inventories that left the market well supplied. Johnson Matthey noted that the iridium market is exceptionally small and illiquid, but unlike rhodium and ruthenium it has no recent history of extreme price movements. Johnson Matthey expects Iridium consumption to rise by 13% to 267,000 oz in 2021, within the historical range of demand for this metal assuming supply rebounds as anticipated, the market should not be in a large fundamental deficit this year. The May 2021 PGM market report from Johnson Matthey mentioned that industrial Iridium demand patterns may have played a role in the recent price rally, even though those figures do not show a dramatic increase in demand this year.
![iridium metal price forecast iridium metal price forecast](https://www.metalary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/iridium.jpg)
Iridium is also found in secondary deposits, combined with platinum and other PGMs in alluvial deposits. Smaller reserves are found in the United States.
![iridium metal price forecast iridium metal price forecast](https://highrisemetal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Silicon-Metal-1.jpg)
![iridium metal price forecast iridium metal price forecast](https://www.investopedia.com/thmb/v3z2VYmttNLbZiqQ77rHPqFV4rc=/2116x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-599948345-d852176d9e2d45a38815ebbfb09f9947.jpg)
The largest known primary reserves are in the Bushveld igneous complex in South Africa, (near the largest-known impact crater, the Vredefort crater), though the large copper/nickel deposits near Norilsk in Russia, and the Sudbury Basin (also an impact crater) in Canada, are also significant sources. Within the Earth's crust, iridium is found at the highest concentrations in three types of geologic structure: igneous deposits (crustal intrusions from below), impact craters, and deposits reworked from one of the former structures. Global PGM reserves have remained relatively constant over the last decade, with a slight increase from 66,000 tonnes in 2010 to 69,000 tonnes in 2020, based on data from Statista, while 2019 worldwide Iridium production totaled 242,000 oz (6.8 tonnes). Also, Iridium tips for gasoline vehicle engine spark plugs offer a combination of longer lifetime and increased combustion efficiency, especially in the latest emission-efficient engines. Iridium crucible demand is supported by the use of lithium tantalate crystal material, used in surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters these are widely used electronic components, in particular in smartphones. It has a niche role in helping disinfect water carried as ballast by ships, especially following the 2019 UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreement that requires ship operators to treat ballast water before it is discharged into the sea. These qualities make it especially sought after for mobile phones, where demand is soaring as 5G technology is rolled out in hydrogen fuel cells and potentially as a key component in the transition to electric vehicles. Its industrial applications exploit its high melting point, hardness and resistance to corrosion. Iridium is widely used in catalysts, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and 5G technologies.