Rhodium - $Price higher than gold

[Pas-de-Calais]

One item the article doesn’t get into. Who/Where do the troy ounces of rhodium go, after the converter gets cut off the vehicle.
Our daughter’s was taken recently. Glad I kept comprehensive on that 20 yr old Honda!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/catalytic-converter-theft-south-africa-rhodium/2021/03/03/dc288192-777d-11eb-9489-8f7dacd51e75_story.html

[ProfessorGAC]

1. The Economics Of That Make Sense

The amount of gold on earth is 4-5x that of rhodium.
Per the 2018 CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics, the abundance of gold in the earth's crust is 4ppb.
Rhodium is listed as less than 1ppb.
Most of the metals lower in abundance for radioisotopes, so the abundance has been falling for Tue last few billion years.
So, it makes sense it would be more valuable.
Exactly how the authorities get a handle on this converter theft issue is a tough one to figure. The profit motive is there, so unless they can start pinching the buyers knowingly buying stolen converters, stopping it doesn't seem so simple.
After all, there is a legitimate industry doing that recovery work from junked vehicles. I'm sure some of them are buying up stolen goods, but proving it seems very difficult.