A giant Russian mining company is moving some of its production to China

Russia – The Russian mining company “Norilsk Nickel” revealed a plan to transfer part of its copper smelting activities from Russia to China within the framework of a joint project with a Chinese company.

Vladimir Potanin, CEO of the giant mining company, said in a recent interview with Interfax that Norilsk Nickel will build a new copper production plant in China, one of its most prominent markets.

He pointed out that the project aims to transfer part of the production to the main consumption markets, as Western sanctions and restrictions hinder the process of delivering goods to the markets in the correct way.

It is expected that the plant will be established by mid-2027, and will supply China with about 2 million tons of copper annually.

The United States and the United Kingdom had targeted aluminum, copper and nickel supplies of Russian origin with new sanctions in an attempt to reduce Russian budget revenues, but the move led to a rise in metal prices in the markets.

Asian markets, including China, have become a major destination for Russian goods exports in the wake of Western sanctions, and the Kremlin stressed that the restrictions are a double-edged sword, and that the sanctions will lead to adverse results for the countries that imposed them.

Russia represents 6% of the global supply of nickel, 5% of aluminum, and 4% of copper. According to Forbes, most experts agree that the new sanctions will lead to an increase in Russian supplies of minerals to China.

Source: Interfax