A sensitive catalytic spectrophotometric method for the determination of ruthenium (Ⅲ) has been developed, based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation reaction of methyl green with potassium bromate in acid solution medium at 100 ℃. The above reaction is followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in the absorbance at 625 nm for the catalytic reaction of methyl green. The calibration curve for the recommended reaction-rate method was linear in the concentration range over 0.00-0.80 μg/L and the detection limit of the method for Ru (Ⅲ) is 0.006μg/L. Almost no foreign ions interfered in the determination at less than 25-fold concentration of Ru (Ⅲ). The method is highly sensitive, more selective and very stable, and has been successfully applied for the determination of trace ruthenium in some ores and metallurgy products.