MOSCOW - Nornickel, the world's biggest palladium producer, said demand for the metal from China’s fibreglass industry could reach 0.8-million ounces per year over the medium term, helping offset an expected decline in demand from the auto sector.

Russia-based Nornickel, which accounts for about 40% of global palladium output, set up a Palladium Center in 2023 to develop new applications for the metal beyond autocatalysts, which currently use more than 80% of supply.

China bought 20,000 ounces of palladium last year to test its use in the glass industry, and successful 300‑day industrial trials in China have prompted the Chinese to begin shifting from platinum to palladium-based solutions, with large‑scale testing set to start in April 2026, Dmitry Izotov, director of the Palladium Center, told Reuters.

The medium‑term demand from the fibreglass sector in China could reach 0.8-million ounces, and total demand from the glass industry globally could reach up to 2-million ounces, he added.

Nornickel is investing $100-million in a programme to try and generate around 1.7-million troy ounces of new annual demand for palladium by 2030.

“We needed to launch a large-scale market development programme to support palladium in new industrial applications, because platinum was already fairly diversified, while palladium had always been overwhelmingly tied to autocatalysts,” Izotov said.

The company also sees near‑term demand emerging in electrochemistry to 0.2-million to 0.3-million ounces of palladium potentially used for anodes, including for water treatment.

Nornickel, which produces around 2.7-million ounces of palladium annually, expects the palladium market to remain broadly balanced in 2026 and over the medium term, with slower growth in electric vehicles and a rising share of hybrids.

After jumping 127% in 2025, spot platinum XPT= is trading above palladium, although both metals are down 13% to 14% so far this year to $1 780 and $1 370 an ounce respectively.