Comdaq Metals Ltd. is starting a benchmark for trading ruthenium and iridium the company announced last week.

Increasing demand for the PGMs led Comdaq to create the benchmark, which the company thinks “will be adopted by a number of trading operations based all over the world.”

Comdaq said global demand for ruthenium, which used in computer hard disks, gained 45% to an all-time high of 1.29 million ounces in 2006.

Demand for iridium comes mainly from the electronics, automotive and chemical sectors.