Palladium was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, and named after the asteroid Pallas, first sighted in 1801. Wise designers have been using palladium to make jewelry since 1939. Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that, together with platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium, form the group of elements known as the platinum group metals.

Palladium is useful in eliminating harmful emissions produced by internal combustion engines and autocatalysts are by far the largest user of palladium. Autocatalysts convert over 90 percent of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen produced in the exhaust from gasoline engines into carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor.

The two main sources of palladium supply are mine production and secondary recovery.

In 2012, approximately 8.7 million ounces of palladium were supplied to the market, of which approximately 6.3 million ounces came from mine supply, and 2.4 million ounces from secondary recovery. Secondary supply is derived from recycling (which is estimated to have contributed approximately 2.2 million ounces in 2012), and from a Russian government stockpile.

Demand for palladium continues to grow, driven primarily by the automotive sector which consumes approximately 67% of world palladium supply for the manufacture of catalytic converters (also referred to as mufflers) in cars which help reduce toxic emissions into the environment.

The demand for palladium in the automotive industry has more than doubled in the last ten years due to an increase in global automotive production and the tightening of emissions standards worldwide, resulting in steady growth in the use of catalytic converters.