Glencore’s aluminium purchase from Rusal valued at $1.06 billion in 2023

On Friday, April 26, Rusal said in its annual report that Glencore, a Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company, bought aluminium from the Russian producer worth $1.06 billion in 2023 as part of a long-term contract.

Glencore purchased Rusal’s aluminium, withstanding much pressure not to buy Russian metals. Western countries have been shunning Russia-made aluminium since the beginning of geo-political crisis between Ukraine and Russia in 2022. But there are no sanctions imposed by the western countries particularly against Rusal.

The $16 billion aluminium purchase contract between Rusal and Glencore is scheduled to expire in 2025, and according to a report in March 2024, Glencore is unlikely to renew the contract.

However, Glencore declined to comment on Friday whether they would extend the contract beyond 2025.

According to Reuters’ calculation, Glencore purchased around 459,000 tonnes of aluminium from Rusal at the average cash price of $2,307 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. It is a rough estimate because the price would also include regional premiums depending on the destination of shipments.

The latest twist is that the London Metal Exchange will not accept Russian aluminium produced on or before April 13 in its warehouses, abiding by the sanctions packages instigated by the US and British governments. But the existing stocks of Russian aluminium in LME warehouses, which are about 91 per cent of the total LME stocks, would be excluded from the measures.