Swapping aluminum for copper will maintain China’s resources, group says
China depends on overseas imports for 60% of its aluminum resources as opposed to 70% of its copper resources.
Glencore purchased at least 5,000 tonnes of Russian copper that were traded through Turkey to Italy in July, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
The metal made by Russia’s Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC) was reportedly sold by UAE-based entity Haldivor Energy and purchased by the trading giant, and exported through Turkey to Italy’s Livorno port.
There are currently no sanctions in place for purchasing Russian metals, but there are restrictions on sourcing these metals from certain specific producers and oligarchs.
For UMMC, the UK and EU have only placed sanctions on executives, not the company itself.
“This transaction represents the final part of a contract that was in place before the war in Ukraine broke out and is in line with our policy regarding Russian business activities that was put in place at the end of March 2022,” a spokesperson for Glencore said in a statement.
“Glencore has undertaken no new business with UMMC since the outbreak of the war.”
The company has longstanding ties in Russia. Its former chief executive Ivan Glasenberg was awarded the Order of Friendship by Vladimir Putin in 2017 after The Qatar Investment Authority and Glencore bought a 19.5% stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft for more than €10 billion.
In recent months, Glencore has also deposited tens of thousands of tonnes of Russian aluminum in LME-registered warehouses.
