Russian aluminum giant RUSAL resumes supplies to US & Europe
RUSAL has resumed shipping of primary aluminum to Europe and the United States to the level prior to US sanctions, according to the company’s chief executive officer Evgeny Nikitin.
“The entire volume of aluminum supplies to Europe and US has been resumed. The company hasn’t resumed shipment of alloys in full so far, but we are working on the issue,” the top executive said on the sidelines of the annual economic forum in Krasnoyarsk.
According to Nikitin, RUSAL, one of the biggest global suppliers of aluminum, is currently ramping up deliveries of its products to all export markets to reach the levels seen before Washington blacklisted the company. The CEO stressed that the company is launching supplies under new contracts with Japanese and US partners.
In April 2018, the US Treasury Department introduced sanctions against the company’s owner Oleg Deripaska and enterprises under his control, including En+, and Basic Element. The blacklist banned US corporations and their partners from dealing with sanctioned individuals and enterprises.
In January, the restrictions were lifted after the billionaire agreed to reduce his stake in En+ to 44.95 percent from 70 percent. Deripaska still remains on the sanctions list with his assets in the US frozen.
According to earlier reports, En+, parent company of the world’s second-largest aluminum producer, initiated a US audit of RUSAL to check whether the company is complying with the terms of the sanctions deal clinched with Washington earlier.
RUSAL expects to keep its 2019 production and investments stable at 3.8 million tons and $900 million respectively, according to Nikitin who worked for the company for over 25 years and was offered the CEO position in May, a month after the US sanctions against the company were imposed.
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