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Russia’s aluminum deliveries to Japan halted over US sanctions

Russia Materials 19 April 2018 16:35 (UTC +04:00)
Russia’s aluminum deliveries to Japan have been halted over US sanctions, Rusal Japan Director Kunihiko Higashi told on Thursday
Russia’s aluminum deliveries to Japan halted over US sanctions

Russia’s aluminum deliveries to Japan have been halted over US sanctions, Rusal Japan Director Kunihiko Higashi told TASS on Thursday.

"Further aluminum deliveries have been cancelled," he said. "Our buyers have said they cannot make payments to Rusal, which is related to the recent US sanctions. Such notices were coming to us one after another," he said.

The Japan Association for Trade with Russia and Newly Independent States (ROTOBO) earlier told TASS that payments for purchasing aluminum delivered to Japan were made in US dollars. "Their purchase in US banks requires indicating the transaction’s purpose," the association’s representative said. "The mention of Rusal possibly creates problems," he added.

According to Rusal Japan, Russia accounted for about 15% of Japan’s aluminum imports or around 230,000 tonnes. The entire amount of aluminum was delivered by Russia’s Rusal.

Reuters news agency reported on April 17 citing sources familiar with the matter that major Japanese commodity traders asked Rusal to stop delivering aluminum and other products after the Russian company had been slapped with US sanctions. Another source confirmed to Reuters that the request addressed to Rusal to halt the deliveries was linked with sanctions risks.

According to the Japan Aluminum Association, Japan purchases about 300,000 tonnes of aluminum in Russia, which makes up about 16% of total aluminum imports.

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