Recently, according to Bloomberg News, China is the world’s largest aluminum producer and is currently importing more light metals from Russia, solving the problem of reduced demand for Russian goods in some countries due to sanctions, highlighting the trade relations between China and Russia. enhanced.

Exports of refined aluminum from Russia to China almost tripled to 88,859 tonnes in April from a year earlier, the second-highest level on record, customs data showed. From January to February this year, China imported 105,300 tons of primary aluminum from Russia, a surge of 266.2% over the 28,759 tons in the same period last year. As the number of imports continues to grow, it is expected that China’s total imports of Russian primary aluminum in 2023 may hit an all-time high.

As one of the world’s largest exporters of aluminum, Russia has been exporting a large amount of aluminum. However, since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the United States has begun to woo Canada and other countries to impose sanctions on Russia. Since then, Russia’s aluminum exports have also been affected by the United States and its allies. limits.

In February 2023, the United States announced a 200% tariff on aluminum and manufactured goods produced in Russia, which will take effect on March 10. Canada subsequently banned all imports of Russian aluminum and steel products.

Glencore, the global commodity trading giant, also said last week that it would not continue to renew a contract to import $16 billion of aluminum from Rusal after the contract expires next year.

Russia is China’s main primary aluminum importer. According to customs data, China will import 667,992 tons of primary aluminum from Russia in 2022, accounting for 69% of the total primary aluminum imports. According to the Russian “Kommersant” newspaper, in 2022, Russia’s aluminum exports to China will reach US$1.3 billion, while in 2021 it will only be US$800 million, a year-on-year increase of 62.5%.

A manager at Russian aluminum giant Rusal said last year that the company had been seeking to supply more low-carbon aluminum to China due to rising demand from Chinese electric vehicle companies. Demand for the metal, mainly used in the construction and transport industries, has increased since China optimized its containment measures late last year.
The Russian side stated that from the statistical data, the US market is not a key market for Rusal. According to Rusal’s report for the first half of 2022, exports to the US accounted for only 7% of the company’s revenue ($497 million), compared with 9% in the first six months of 2021. The European, CIS and Asian markets accounted for 40%, 29% and 23% respectively.

Russian analysts believe that the U.S. market’s primary aluminum exports to Russia are negligible, and Rusal can divert a small amount of aluminum originally exported to North America to Asian markets including China. In the future, China may become one of Rusal’s most important buyers .