EU prepares ban on trade of Russian aluminium, Reuters reports
www.pravda.com.ua
Wed, 15 Jan 2025 09:13:58 +0200
The European Commission plans to propose a ban on the import of Russian primary aluminum in its 16th sanctions package against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
Source Reuters Details EU countries hope to adopt the 16th sanctions package in February, marking the third anniversary of the fullscale war. It is noted that the European Commission held informal meetings with EU countries to discuss the details of the upcoming package.
Currently, the EU, consisting of 27 member states, has banned Russian aluminium products, including wire, pipes and foil.
These account for less than 15 of the EUs aluminium imports, which are used in the transportation, packaging and construction sectors.
Aluminium is favoured for manufacturing a wide range of parts for electric vehicles because of its comparative lightness.
The United States and the United Kingdom banned the import of metals produced in Russia in 2024, but the EU declined to follow their example due to opposition from some members.
Following this news, benchmark aluminium on the London Metal Exchange LME reached its highest level in nearly a month at US2,602 per ton, but later dropped by 0.1 to US2,576.50 per ton.
Imports of Russian primary aluminium to the EU have decreased over the past two years.
According to the Trade Data Monitor, the EU imported over 130,000 metric tonnes of primary aluminium from Russia, about 6 of the total volume of 2.2 million tonnes, from January to October 2024.
This compares to 11 and 19 during the same periods in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Companies from the EU and the US may trigger a race for alternative supplies from the Middle East, including from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The International Aluminium Institute stated that the region produced nearly 9 of global supplies in 2024.
Read more updates on this topic More trouble ahead as Russia enters 2025, how is the economy doing Background The volume of largediameter pipes LDP exports from Russia fell by more than four times in 2024.
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