According to people familiar with the matter, the London Metal Exchange will release a consultation document, marking the first step towards a new move towards a possible ban on Russian metal supply. Any ban could have a significant impact on the global metals market, as Russia is a major producer of aluminum, nickel and copper. The LME plans to hold discussions on whether and under what circumstances Russian metal supplies should be banned, but the launch of the discussion paper does not mean that the LME has made any decisions on future actions, but the move marks a shift in practice. The exchange has previously said it does not plan to take any action outside the scope of the sanctions, which have largely not affected large Russian metal producers such as Rusal and Nornickel.
Data shows that Russia produces 10% of global nickel, 3.5% of copper and 6% of aluminum, of which, Nornickel is the main producer of nickel, accounting for 7% of global mine production with 2.7mnt last year. Rusal is the largest aluminum producers except for China, accounting for 6% of global supply with the estimate of 70mnt this year. Russia is also the seventh largest copper producer and the third largest exporter of refined copper after Chile and Japan. Since refined copper is a deliverable form of LME, the role of Russian copper products in LME is even more important. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Russia produced 920kt of refined copper last year, or about 3.5% of the world's total.
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