Sanctions have been imposed on Russian aluminum giant Rusal

Russian aluminum giant Rusal said on Friday that it had been affected by international sanctions, particularly slowing Russian demand, and announced a sharp drop in net profit in the first half.

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Net profit fell 16.7% to $1.68 billion in the first half of the year, according to figures released Friday in a statement.

The group, founded by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, pointed out that “rising geopolitical tensions from February 2022 have significantly increased volatility in commodity and currency markets.”

The tensions, caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since February 24 and international sanctions against Moscow, “have negatively affected the operations of Russian companies in various sectors of the economy, leading to a decline in aluminum demand in Russia,” the statement said. Said.

Furthermore, Australia’s ban on the export of alumina, from which aluminum is extracted, as well as the suspension of production at the alumina refinery in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, “had a negative impact on the supply of raw materials for aluminum production. And caused an increase in costs,” he noted.

The Russian group is “responsible for repeating its chain of deliveries,” the press release said.

For their part, “investment projects and modernization programs for production facilities may be postponed due to difficulties in equipment delivery,” he said.

A very large number of Russian economic players are facing serious problems with the supply of equipment and spare parts, the sale of which is prohibited to Russia.

They also struggle to import or export, with international logistics and financial chains partially paralyzed by retaliatory measures imposed by Europe and the United States.

The turnover of the Russian aluminum giant, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, increased by 31.3% to 7.2 billion dollars in the first half of the year.