It is quite easy to know what a critical metal is. Basically, critical metals are metals that one cannot do without in building certain things. As for catalytic converters, one simply cannot do without the rhodium. One of the most effective ways in which the catalytic converter is able to meet the legally mandated emissions reduction of nitrogen oxides is by having the hot exhaust gases pass over a finely divided rhodium. Without the rhodium, the catalytic converter will be unable to function the way it is supposed to. Aside from this, the vehicle that is equipped with a catalytic converter that does not have a rhodium as one of its component may not be sold in the US, Japan, and Europe legally.

The American OEM automotive industry, accounts for more than three-fourths of the actual annual demand for rhodium. This amounts to over a million ounce supply of newly produced rhodium. This demand for rhodium is solely used for manufacturing catalytic converters. On a sad note, it has been projected that with the increase in car production from a total of 75 million units per annum in 2007 to a projected 100 million vehicles in 2012, there could be a growing rhodium deficit. For this reason, rhodium has increased its value and hence the looting of catalytic converters.

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