Raw materials at risk from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine by land, sea and air has put on the table the prospect of a tightening of sanctions against Russia and the interruption of the supply of raw materials exported by Russian companies.

Russia’s main commodity exports are detailed below.

Aluminum

Most Russian metals producers have so far escaped sanctions imposed by the West since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

One exception is the world’s largest aluminum producer outside of China, Rusal, which is subject to measures imposed by the United States between April 2018 and early 2019.

Rusal produced 3.8 million tons of aluminum in 2021, about 6% of the estimated world production.

Cobalt

Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that Russia produced 7,600 tons of cobalt last year, more than 4% of the world total.

Russia was the second largest producer, far behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which produced 120,000 tons.

Copper

Russia produced 920,000 tons of refined copper last year, about 3.5% of the world total, according to the USGS, of which Nornickel produced 406,841 tons.

Asia and Europe are the main export markets.

Nickel

Nornickel is the world’s leading producer of refined nickel. It produced 193,006 tons in 2021, that is, about 7% of the world total, estimated at 2.7 million tons.

palladium and platinum

Nornickel is also the world’s largest producer of palladium and a major producer of platinum.

Last year it produced 2.6 million troy ounces of palladium, or 40% of the world’s total, and 641,000 ounces of platinum, roughly 10% of total mining output.

Gold

Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of gold, after Australia and China, accounting for about 10% of global mining output, which the World Gold Council said amounted to 3,500 tonnes last year.

Russian gold is produced by companies such as Polyus and Polymetal.

Titanium

The Russian company VSMPO-Avisma supplies titanium to Boeing and Airbus. USGS data shows Russia produced 27,000 tons of titanium sponge and Ukraine 5,400 tons last year. Together they represent about 15% of the world total.

Steel

Russia produced 76 million tons of steel, almost 4% of the world total, according to the World Steel Association.

Severstal, NLMK, Evraz, MMK and Mechel are the main Russian producers. They export about half of their production, mainly to Europe.

diamonds

State-controlled Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by volume, produced 32.4 million carats in 2021, about 30% of the world total. It exports mainly to Belgium, India and the United Arab Emirates.

fertilizers

Russia is a major producer of potash, phosphate, and nitrogen-containing fertilizers, that is, nutrients for crops and soil. It produces more than 50 million tons of these fertilizers a year, 13% of the world total.

They export to Asia and Brazil.

Cereals and oilseeds

Russia and Ukraine are the main suppliers of wheat, with a combined 29% of world exports, most of which pass through Black Sea ports.

Ship traffic in the small Sea of ​​Azov has already been suspended, and if shipments from the Black Sea are interrupted, major importers, especially from the Middle East and North Africa, will be forced to look elsewhere.

Ukraine is one of the world’s top four corn exporters, along with the United States, Argentina and Brazil.

The two countries also account for around 80% of world sunflower oil exports.