Catalytic converter prices can be vastly different depending on the buyer, so when it comes to selling your converters how are you meant to find the best deal? On this page we explore when it is time to sell your converter, and the different ways you can find the best prices for your converters.
Why would you need to sell your catalytic converter?
It may come a time when you might look forward to selling your catalytic converter as the machine will not serve you as needed. Industry-standards suggest that catalytic converters should be replaced every 100,000 km driven.
One of the common reasons is catalytic poisoning. This happens when various chemicals like manganese, sulfur, silicon, or lead are deposited on its surface. The surface shouldn’t come into contact with these toxic gases as it ultimately leads to the breakdown of the converter.
Selling Your Catalytic Converter
Catalytic converters should be recycled when they are not working as required or are no longer being used. Recycling is a fundamental step for individuals who need to discard their catalytic converter, and it’s good for the planet. For this purpose, the best spots are refiners, scrap yards or processors.
There are many different catalytic converter recycling zones across countries. There are also many scrap yards, but not that many refiners and processors that buy catalytic converters across Europe.
Catalytic Converter Purchasing Price
The catalytic converter price is the first thing many people will pay special attention to when selling their convertor(s). In today’s market, no one needs to sell them at a below-market cost. To get the best price, you should search for a specialist that has a catalytic converter price database that will purchase your converter at the market rate. A centre that purchases a high volume of converters is best when you need to sell your converter at the top rates.
Converter Information
You should search for a purchaser with legitimate up-to-date information on a wide range of catalytic converters. This is fundamental assuming you want to get the best rate.
Converters have unique tags. A purchaser with a legitimate knowledge of catalytic converters and a database to back it up will buy yours at its current market rate without the need for bargaining.
Catalytic converters have serial numbers which can be used to determine the current purchasing price of any particular converter. Experienced catalytic converter recycling organizations will request the serial number of your catalytic convertors before providing their price estimates. So if you have a few converters to sell, you’ll be able to find the exact price for each of them, assuming you have a pricing catalogue like bacmetall’s catalytic converter database app.
The precious metals found in catalytic converters make them valuable assets that can provide a high return on investment.
Each converter has a different quantity and grade of material which we analyse carefully before making our customers an offer.
Platinum
The first metal that you can find inside a converter is platinum which allows the engine to function well. Its role is to negate the pollution to avoid letting in harmful particles inside the engine. However, it’s not just vital to help the engine but also one of the valuable metals known for its purity and catalytic properties.
The price of platinum metal varies, but some websites can give you accurate pricing. However, the average price, according to Business Insider, is $1097 per troy ounce.
Palladium
Palladium is also one of the six Platinum Group Metals (PGM) and is probably the most expensive. It’s known for its features of being soft and pliable. In the market, its price is $2,643 per troy ounce, which is the reason it’s a luxury element for catalytic converters.
Rhodium
Another metal in the PGM family is rhodium which eliminates the fumes and toxins of a car’s engine. And as a catalyst, rhodium is also a great item because of its beneficial chemical compounds. You can find rhodium in the market with an average price of $2,175 per ounce.
The pricing mentioned for each catalyst metal is the average price in the market. Therefore, they are subjected to change depending on certain factors. If you want to get the accurate cost of each metal, you can visit trusted platforms such as Fastmarkets, Kitco, and MetalsDaily alternatively, contact us at info@bacmetall.lt.
PGM Market Price.
Once we know which metals are present, let’s have a look at their values and how to determine the market price.
Metals are considered a commodity, therefore should be found under the commodity section on market platforms. There are a few metal markets and many websites which show the price of PGM metals.
It is important to note that the price reflected in most websites will show a delayed price – in most cases the delay will be from 15 minutes to a couple of hours. If you feel that you need an actual spot price, you will have to buy a subscription from one of the firms that provide such a service or contact us to find more.
Where to find the price of PGMs
A brief overview of main PGM platforms
There are few trusted free websites for Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium prices. Each has its unique features and user experiences. Below, we will briefly go over the few main platforms and their features.
Fastmarkets – https://www.fastmarkets.com/commodities/precious-metals (formerly bulliondesk.com)
Summary:
Fastmarkets is one of the oldest PGM pricing platforms. Many users have been using the platform for many years.
+ Reliability
– Not very user-friendly
– Limited features
Kitco – https://www.kitco.com/charts/liveplatinum.html
Summary:
Kitco is one of our favourites as it has both a website and an app for mobiles. It is user-friendly and has features to select currency and measurement metrics.
+ Web & App
+ Useful features
+ Has graphs
– Website navigation can be slightly complicated for new users
Metals Daily (https://www.metalsdaily.com/live-prices/pgms)
Summary:
The Metals Daily website looks is updated frequently and it provides PGM news from around the globe.
+ Great user experience
+ Relevant PGM news
+ Conveniently prices are on 1 page
– Does not have an app
The basics of used catalytic converter pricing.
If catalytic converter recycling is done correctly, in most cases, it will be compensated well.
Naturally, the question “how do I get it right?” arises.
It boils down to the most basic sales technique. Buy low, sell high.
Although it may look fairly simple from the outside there are plenty of factors that will influence the price of the catalytic converter.
What influences the price of selling catalytic converters?
- How many grams of each precious metal does it contain?
- What is the precious metal market price per gram? *Pd, Pt & Rh metal markets*
- What are the refining charges?
Vast knowledge or access to a lot of information is required to understand what a good catalytic converter price is.
Each car brand, model, engine type, country the car is made in, power will have its catalytic converters.
Try to imagine how many unique catalytic converters there are… millions. That should give you an idea about the volume of information a collector faces.
Selecting your trusted catalytic converter buyer will play an important role in your successful collector journey.
But don’t worry, we are here to help. Bacmetall provides you with helpful guidelines and a hugely useful catalytic converter catalogue in the form of our free mobile app.
What is the minimum volume of catalytic converters you can sell?
The answer to this question varies from one refiner to another.
Some companies buy from 1 piece to 100, while others only accept a minimum of 1MT.
Bacmetall has a minimum lot quantity of 100kg or, on average, 100 units of used catalytic converters.
We also offer chemical analysis (ICP) for lots over 100kg.
How to calculate the price of a catalytic converter?
Now we know where to find the market price for 1 ounce or 1 gram (if using kitco.com).
Bacmetall needs the following information in order to give you an accurate price:
Car brand: If we know this it makes our search much easier.
Reference: We need to know the reference of the catalytic converter so we can check the database for data we have on this particular converter.
2nd Reference: Sometimes catalytic converters contain more than 1 reference. It is important to list as many as you can see on the catalytic converter.
Weight (kg): The weight of the catalytic converter comb without the shell in kilograms.
Analysis of PT / PD / RH (PPM): This part is slightly tricky as most of the discrepancies and differences occur in this part.
First, we need to understand some industry terminology. PPM is commonly referred to as “parts per million“; this is the metric we receive from our XRF analysis.
There is a subtle art to correctly obtain the number of PPM‘s. Each manufacturer follows a slightly different routine to get the most accurate results.
XRF (X-ray fluorescence) is a non-destructive analytical technique used to determine the elemental composition of materials (Blondel, 2021)
For simplicity, let‘s assume that you have already used Bacmetall to help you to obtain an accurate level of PPM in your catalytic converter.
Let‘s take an example of a Mercedes Benz catalytic converter with reference number:
KT0119 (Disclaimer: this is just a fictional example)
Car Brand Reference 2nd Reference Weight (kg) PT (PPM) PD (PPM) RH (PPM)
MERCEDES-BENZ KT0119 1 0 1500 150
Calculations:
We need to translate PPMs into ounces or grams.
1 ppm = 0.001 g/kg; 1 g/kg = 1000 ppm
Ppm / 1000 = g / kg
PD calculation – 1500/1000= 1.5 g/kg
RH calculation – 150 / 1000 = 0.15 g/kg
We calculate how many grams in each kilo this catalytic converter should contain.
Multiple g/kg * weight (kg)
PD calculation – 1.5 g/kg * 1 kg = 1.5 g
RH calculation – 0.15 g/kg * 1 kg = 0.150 g
Price of Palladium today: 75.98 Eur/g
Price of Rhodium today: $932.37 Usd/g = 775.69 Eur/g
For example purposes only.
PD calculation – 75.98 Eur * 1.5 g = 113.97 Eur
RH calculation – 775.69 Eur * 0.15 g= 116.3 eur
Total value:
PD + RH – 113.97 Eur + 116.3 Eur= 230 Eur
The amount of pure metals that this catalytic converter contains is worth €230. However, this is a price of 100% recovered metals and in our industry recovery for Pt and Pd is around 99%, whereas Rhodium recovery varies from 85-90%. It is also very important to understand that to recover the metals from your catalytic converter many processes have to be undertaken. For example milling, grinding, crushing, sampling and transportation costs are just a small part of the expenses that refiners incur.
If you want to find out more about or refining charges please contact our regional manager or fill this form out.
Save yourself hours by downloading our app which gives you up-to-date, accurate prices on over 25,000 catalytic converters.
Conclusion:
Catalytic converter pricing is a complex process that includes many variables such as metal market pricing, region of the catalytic converter (different countries have different regulations on emission), sampling process, XRF analysis and much more.
To understand the pricing better you will have to understand many processes well and continuously update your knowledge in each. Or, simply download our app and let us do it all for you.
Hope this article will help you understand the pricing at least a bit better.
How to sell your catalytic converter online (link to blog)
Get the best catalytic converter platinum scrap price (link to blog)
How to calculate the price of a scrap catalytic converter? (link to blog)
Testimonials from our customers:
“Fantastic company with hard work and honesty offering all guaranteed support help but export fair price a better reference in catalyst purchases I am very happy with the work of Bacmetall Evelina and all the support is given congratulations to Evelina and all her team bac metal I am very happy with the personalized service success everyone”.
Client from Brazil
“It was a smooth experience in working with Bacmetall as we received our payment fast and analysis results before it was expected, and looking forward to doing more business in the future.”
Client from the Iran
“The best company to work within the business of catalytic converters and purchasing manager spoke my language, which made it easier to understand the whole process and the most accurate prices and the results. I want to choose Bacmetall every time for future business.”
Faiz Mohammed
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FAQ:
Why does the price of the Catalytic Converter price vary so much?
Catalytic converters are enriched with precious metals. Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Iron, Manganese and Ceramics. Their value fluctuates depending on the metal market. Read more about the metal markets in our blog on catalytic converter price.
Platinum sells for $ 971.00 an ounce dated 03/10/2021* https://www.kitco.com/charts/liveplatinum.html
Palladium sells for $ 1,850.00 am ounce dated 03/10/2021* (https://www.kitco.com/charts/livepalladium.html)
Rhodium sells for $$12,600.00 an dated 03/10/2021* https://www.moneymetals.com/rhodium-price
*prices can change.
How much does it cost to replace a catalytic converter?
We do not provide such service it will be difficult for us to guess.
Answer from Quora:
“There can be an enormous price difference depending on the car or truck model.I have a 1989 ford 5.0 liter lx mustang it came with four cats two on each down pipe from the exhaust headers.On the way home from work The catalytic innards tumbled inside blocking the exhaust.If they were to be replaced with the stock setup it would be up between 1000.00 and 2000.00 dollars for just the parts.But what I did was purchase an off road catalytic converter bypass pipe($165.00) that was 2.75 in diameter and welded in two high performance high-flow cats($65.00 each) and installed the whole setup in place of the original exhaust parts all sensors functioned normally no check engine light and it the easily passed it provincially mandated exhaust emissions test.Then ran 13.05 in the quarter mile.Cost about 300 bucks canadian”
What’s the 2002 honda accord catalytic converter scrap price?
Honda Accord (2002) catalytic converter scrap price:
Honda accord catalytic converter will depend on the engine size, year made, fuel type and transmission.
Few of possible variants of Honda analysis (there are more, just to show a few):
Kg 0.9 PT 1149 PD 0 RH 210 – Value: $84.00 for 03/10/2021
Kg 1.5 PT 1646 PD 5228 RH 525 – Value: $793.00 for 03/10/2021
Kg 0.9 PT 350 PD 5200 RH 350 – Value: $358.00 for 03/10/2021
Price of Honda Accord ranges from $84 to $793. In most cases, it is difficult to know what is the exact value your catalytic converter is. Therefore, we do perform ICP analysis.