In the context of being subject to a series of sanctions from the West, Russia is boosting metal exports to Asia, especially China, as a viable strategy to maintain revenue from raw materials.
According to customs data, China has sharply increased imports of basic metals from Russia in the first 5 months of 2025.
Imports of aluminum from Russia to China increased by nearly 56% over the same period last year, reaching nearly 1 million tons. The amount of imported copper increased by 66%, while nickel even increased by more than double.
While major companies such as Rusal and Norilsk Nickel have not been directly sanctioned, they have been restricted from accessing global exchanges.
The US and UK have banned the world's two largest metal exchanges - the London Metal Exchange (LME) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) - from accepting new Russian-origin metals since April. At the same time, Washington also imposes a 200% tax on Russian aluminum products, while Canada completely bans both aluminum and steel from this country.
Not out of the trend, the European Union (EU) also issued a partial ban, limiting Russian aluminum imports to 275,000 tons until February 2026.
The Kremlin has criticized the sanctions as illegal and warned that these sanctions will be counterproductive.
In fact, immediately after the ban, global metal prices skyrocketed, with aluminum recording the strongest increase on the LME floor in decades.
In a position of isolation, Moscow has quickly shifted its strategy, boosting exports to Asia and the Middle East, where sanctions are few or no.
Norilsk Nickel Group has sharply increased sales to China since the second half of 2024. The group is collaborating with a unit of the Chinese gold giant - Shandong Gold - to expand exports of Cathode copper.
Not only large corporations, many companies that have been directly sanctioned such as Russian Copper UMCC may also be indirectly exporting to China.
Norilsk Nickel CEO Vladimir Potanin even said he would move part of the copper smelting operation to China to protect exports from financial sanctions.
In 2024, total trade turnover between Russia and China surpassed the historical mark of 240 billion USD. While Western markets are narrowing, China has emerged as a lifebuoy for Russian goods, from energy, grains to metals.
