June 23, 2022 – According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, catalytic converter thefts saw an incredible 325 percent increase from 2019 to 2020. Much of it can be related to the state of global supply chains and the prices of the previous metals that allow a catalytic converter to function.
The three precious metals that are most commonly contained inside of a catalytic converter are platinum, rhodium, and palladium. All three have seen spikes in prices as the pandemic surged and as global supply chains slowed.
The spot price of Rhodium went from $2,300 per ounce in January of 2019 to over $14,000 per ounce by December of 2020. The price increases of Rhodium didn’t stop in 2020 as it peaked at a price of $27,000 per ounce in April of 2021 and still remains well above those 2019 levels with a current price over $11,000 per ounce.
