In blow to Sibanye-Stillwater, attempts to tariff Russian palladium unsuccessful

As Sibanye-Stillwater seeks to expand its waste facility to support decades of mining in Montana, other elements of the business' future remain uncertain.

Legal and External Affairs Vice President Heather McDowell told the Billings Gazette on Monday that an initial effort for permanent tariffs on palladium was unsuccessful. This February, tariffs were implemented on Russian imports to counter an alleged flooding of the market. Those tariffs, meant to boost the stability of the market’s floor, will likely only hold for a few more weeks after an unfavorable finding for Sibanye-Stillwater by the International Trade Court.

The South African-based mining company alleged in a petition last summer that Russia dumped the metal into the U.S. market and was illegally subsidizing the palladium. This change in the market caused the price to drop by more than two-thirds of what it was at its peak in 2022.

Lower prices on the critical mineral were considered a leading factor in losses for Sibanye-Stillwater, resulting in hundreds of layoffs in 2024. At the time, the drastic layoffs were roughly 16% of mining jobs statewide and 40% of the company’s Montana workforce. Most domestic mining of palladium occurs in Montana, with the mines being the largest producer of the metal outside of Russia and South Africa. Palladium is mostly used by the auto sector for catalytic converters.

According to McDowell, the court determined that Russia was dumping palladium into the U.S. market and was illegally subsidizing the costs. However, the court found the company didn’t prove that the dumping was affecting the metal's price.

The full written decision on the company’s petition hasn’t been published yet, meaning Sibanye-Stillwater’s next steps, like appealing the ruling, are uncertain.

“We need to review the decision before we can assess it, but believe that U.S. imports of Russian palladium caused the market to drop between 2022 and 2025 and the fact that the Russian producer stopped sending palladium to the U.S. immediately after we filed our case is telling,” McDowell stated.

Even with the tariffs and the U.S. currently not receiving Russian palladium, the price of the metal is only about $300 higher than what it was a year ago at around $1,372 per ounce. That’s more than a thousand dollars lower than a few years prior and has resulted in tight profit margins for the company.

For Sibanye-Stillwater, the price in the first quarter of 2026 for producing an ounce of palladium was $1,291 per ounce at the Stillwater East and East Boulder mines, the company said.

The metal’s current price means the company is likely some time from reopening its Stillwater West mine, McDowell said. The mine was put on care and maintenance in November 2024 as hundreds of workers were laid off, jobs that likely won’t come back unless the facility reopens.

The mine produced the metal at around $1,500 per ounce when it closed. A five-year business plan approved this May by Sibanye-Stillwater did not include operations at Stillwater West. The company’s current goals are to get the cost of production down to $1,000 per ounce at its operational Montana mines.

“You can see that it makes sense to leave Stillwater West out of our business plan until we can get our costs down and prices come up.” McDowell stated.

The company has added only a few positions since the layoffs, but have hired around 150 people to replace outgoing employees who left for reasons like retirement or other work. There are 1,075 total positions at the mine.