The London Metal Exchange said last week that it does not plan to ban Russian aluminium from its warehouses due to the fact that a large number of buyers on the platform will continue to buy it next year.
Although Russia itself has been sanctioned by several governments in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in February, Rusal has as yet avoided such punitive measures. In October the LME began to look into the prospect of banning Russian metals by soliciting opinions from its members.
In a statement released by the LME on Friday, the trading platform said it has opted against banning Russian metals.
“The LME does not propose at this time to prohibit the warranting of new Russian metal nor to impose thresholds or limits to the amount of Russian stock permitted in LME warehouses.”
Although the LME pledged to monitor Russian aluminium in its system, the exchange stopped short of prohibiting it entirely.
“While there is evidently an ethical dimension as to the global acceptability of Russian metal, we believe the LME should not seek to take or impose any moral judgements on the broader market.”
A portion of those giving opinions on the matter counseled caution when listening to aluminium producers “given a perceived vested commercial conflict of interest.”
The LME assured the market that it would respond appropriately to any sanctions that may be handed down in future.
“The LME will, of course, remain responsive to any sanctions or tariffs imposed by governments, and will communicate with the market should those arise.”
The LME expects more Russian aluminium will enter its warehouses if there is no ban, but they said they did not find evidence that such deliveries would be a problem.