Russia has increased supplies of copper, nickel, and aluminum to China

According to Chinese customs data, the first two months of 2025 saw a significant rise in imports of certain non-ferrous metals from Russia to China, reports “Kommersant”.

Purchases of copper and copper products surged nearly 1.5 times, reaching $711.77 million. Nickel imports grew 2.8-fold to $233.38 million, while aluminum imports rose by 29.5% to $895.95 million. Based on London Metal Exchange (LME) prices, the supply volumes are estimated at approximately 72,000 tons, 14,500 tons, and 340,000 tons, respectively.

At the same time, imports of palladium from Russia to China fell 2.4 times during the same period, dropping to $66 million, while platinum imports declined to $80.3 million. Converted to ounces using current LBMA prices, this equates to 68,900 ounces and approximately 82,300 ounces, respectively.

According to data for 2024 Russia reduced exports of platinum-group metals to China by 52.1%, to $900.2 million, while copper supplies fell to $6.43 billion (a 6.4% decrease). However, nickel exports in physical terms grew by 28%, reaching 67,600 tons, despite a 7% decline in monetary terms to $1 billion.

Supplies of primary aluminum increased by 25%, totaling $3.54 billion, equivalent to 1.22 million tons.