The West African nation's bauxite production rose over 19% year-on-year in 2023 to about 123 million metric tons.

Vitol, Gunvor and Mercuria Energy are among the traders building out their metals teams, as they look to deploy capital generated by record profits.

New measures designed to undercut the economic rationale for withdrawing Russian metal already on the LME and selling it back on the exchange under a less-desirable category.

The world’s two biggest metals traders plan to withdraw the metal to profit from a new multi-tiered system created by the sanctions.

Glencore aims to take thousands of metric tons of Russian aluminum from the LME and return it at a later date to profit from rule changes.

The Biden administration is also pressuring neighboring Mexico to prohibit China from selling its metal products to the United States indirectly from there.

The opportunity lies in massive piles of Russian metal already sitting in the LME global warehouse network.

The Australian government will provide a combined A$585 million to Alpha HPA and Renascor Resources.