BEIJING: Aluminium and nickel futures jumped to multi-month highs on Monday following fresh sanctions by the U.S. and UK targeting Russian metals.
Russia is a major producer of aluminium and nickel. It also produces copper and some other metals.
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) jumped 5.2% to a 22-month high of $2,624 per metric ton by 0440 GMT.
The LME nickel contract advanced 3.6% to $18,445 per ton, the highest since September 2023.
On Friday, Washington and London prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals into the U.S. and Britain.
The sanctions aim to restrict revenues for Russia from the export of metal produced by companies such as Rusal and Nornickel that help to fund its military operations in Ukraine.
The LME on Saturday banned from its system Russian metal produced on or after April 13. CME Group suspended from its platform aluminium produced in Russia from April 13, the exchange said on Sunday.
Reduction in deliverable aluminium in those exchanges would give a boost to prices of the metal ex-China, said China Futures analysts.
They anticipate more Russian aluminium to go to China as a result, adding to supply pressure while encouraging more exports from China.
The impact on nickel is limited because of rising deliverable products from China, despite currently high Russia-origin nickel stocks on the exchange, they added.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), the most-traded June aluminium contract hit a two-year high in morning session and was last up 0.8% at 20,740 yuan ($2,865.23) per ton, while nickel was up 0.8% at 138,510 yuan.
LME copper dipped 0.1% to $9,449 per ton, zinc slid 0.9% to $2,804, lead lost 0.9% at $2,157, while tin gained 0.5% to $32,525.
SHFE tin rose 1.9% to 253,700 yuan a ton, zinc shed 0.3% to 22,775 yuan, lead was unmoved at 16,695 yuan, and tin was up 1.9% at 253,700 yuan. ($1 = 7.2385 Chinese yuan) - Reuters
