Ruthenium Drops to 8-Year Low as Ipad Demand Hurts Hard-Disk Use

Ruthenium slid to an eight-year low on reduced demand for the material used to coat hard disks as consumers favor computer tablets including Apple Inc.’s iPad and smartphones and as manufacturers used metal from inventories.

The metal, also used in the electrochemical industry, slid 33 percent this year and is set for a third successive annual decline. Purchases slipped due to growing demand for tablets and smartphones that use flash technology, rather than traditional hard-disk drives that rely on spinning platters, according to Mitsubishi Corp. International (Europe) Plc.