Russia's Nornickel Moves Closer to Biggest Buyer with Plan for Copper Plant in China
来源：Reuters;发表于:2024-05-03;人气指数:45
Friday, May 3,
2024
Russia's Nornickel Moves Closer to
Biggest Buyer with Plan for Copper Plant in China
Nornickel, struggling to import
equipment to sanctions-hit Russia, will close its Arctic copper plant and build
one in China with an unnamed partner to gain direct access to the world's
biggest metals market, it said.
The project is a major shift for
Nornickel, which is simultaneously adapting to sanctions on Russia and to
changing buying preferences in its main sales destination, Asia. Until now,
Nornickel has mainly sold refined copper, used in power and construction.
"We are transferring our
environmental problems, settlement problems, market access problems, problems
with customising our goods for the consumer market, in this case, to China,
where they will be solved more efficiently," CEO Vladimir Potanin said in
an interview with the Interfax news agency, published on Monday. Potanin said
Nornickel would create a joint venture in China to build the plant, which
should be constructed by mid-2027, and would supply it with about 2 million
metric tons of copper concentrate a year.
China's copper imports fell by 6.3% in
2023 as domestic production increased, while imports of copper ore and
concentrate hit a record-high.
China has become a major destination for
Russian companies seeking to export their commodities after the United States
imposed sanctions on Russia after it sent its army into Ukraine in February
2022. Asia accounted for 54% of Nornickel's revenue in 2023.
"This dependence increases as
sanctions pressure increases," Potanin said. "We will not get away
from this, but being integrated more into the Chinese economy, we are more
protected than if we don't have this."
Reuters
Source: Reuters