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Down 45% so far this year, palladium is on course for its worst year of losses since 2008, when the financial crash hit demand. Top producer Russia's Nornickel expects the palladium market to swing to a surplus of 300,000 ounces in 2024 from a 200,000-ounce deficit in 2023 due to supplies, boosted by recycling, outpacing demand. Consultancy Metals Focus forecasts above-ground palladium stocks of about 11.64 million ounces in 2023, compared with 12.35 million in 2022 and 12.89 million in 2021 - meaning ample supplies. In March 2022, palladium was trading at more than double the price of platinum, prompting a switch by automakers. However, longer-term Metals Focus is quite bearish on palladium," said Nikos Kavalis, managing director at Metals Focus.

Persons: Alexander Manzyuk, hastening, Russia's Nornickel, John Meyer, Edward Meir, Nikos Kavalis, Brijesh Patel, Harshit Verma, Ashitha, Anjana Anil, Anushree Mukherjee, Abhijith, Arpan Varghese, Pratima Desai, Hugh Lawson Organizations: REUTERS, Russia, ICE, International Energy, Consultancy, Metals, Thomson Locations: Siberian, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Ukraine, Bengaluru

☆ Rouble soars vs dollar as market gauges impact of latest US sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble soared on Friday as the market gauged the impact of Washington's latest sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, heading back towards a three-month high on the support of foreign currency sales and soaring interest rates. By 1455 GMT, the rouble was 1% stronger against the dollar at 92.39 , not too far from 91.6225, its strongest point since Aug. 1, hit on Wednesday. The rouble has now lost support from month-end tax payments, which were due on Monday and usually see exporters convert foreign exchange revenues to pay domestic liabilities. The rouble has strengthened from beyond 100 to the dollar since that decree was announced. "Sanctions may play a stabilising role for the rouble, helping the central bank fight inflation," Polevoy said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Dmitry Polevoy, Polevoy, Alexander Marrow, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Moscow, Brent, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russian, Ukraine, United States, Russia, Locko

[1/3] Charles McGonigal, a former FBI official who has been charged with working for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, arrives at Federal Court in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2023. At the time, McGonigal pleaded not guilty to four criminal counts including sanctions violations and money laundering. McGonigal told the court he was "deeply remorseful" for his actions. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rearden is scheduled to sentence McGonigal on Dec. 14. U.S. prosecutors charged McGonigal as they ramped up efforts to enforce sanctions on Russian officials and police their suspected enablers following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Persons: Charles McGonigal, Oleg Deripaska, Brendan McDermid, McGonigal, Vladimir Potanin, Seth DuCharme, Jennifer Rearden, Matthew Olsen, Washington, Jody Godoy, Grant McCool Organizations: FBI, Court, REUTERS, Prosecutors, Deripaska, U.S . Department of Justice's National Security Division, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Russian, New York City, U.S, New York, Manhattan, Russia, Cyprus, New Jersey, Ukraine, Nornickel

☆ Exclusive: Russia's VTB may pull out of running for Yandex stake - CEO Kostin
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovMOSCOW, June 9 (Reuters) - Russian state-owned lender VTB (VTBR.MM) may pull out of the running to acquire a stake in internet giant Yandex (YNDX.O), the bank's CEO, Andrei Kostin, told Reuters, as discussions are now centered around higher prices than the bank's initial offer. Kostin said he was not sure VTB would continue with its bid. "I am not sure that we will go into Yandex," Kostin told Reuters when asked about plans. "It was announced at $7 billion recently, we submitted our application at a different price level, lower," Kostin said. VTB was hit hard with Western sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine, something that limits its ability to front a consortium bid, Kostin said.

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, Andrei Kostin, Kostin, –, Arkady Volozh, VTB, Vladimir Potanin, Vagit Alekperov, Guy Faulconbridge, Elena Fabrichnaya, Alexander Marrow Organizations: Moscow International Business Center, REUTERS, VTB, Reuters, Kostin, Yandex NV, Thomson Locations: Moscow, City, Russia, Maxim Shemetov MOSCOW, Yandex, Ukraine, Yandex's

Russia has 110 official billionaires in the list, up 22 from last year, according to Forbes' Russian edition, which said their total wealth increased to $505 billion from $353 billion when the 2022 list was announced. "Last year's rating results were also influenced by apocalyptic predictions about the Russian economy," Forbes said, adding that the total wealth of Russia's billionaires was $606 billion in 2021, before the war began. The price of Urals oil, the lifeblood of the Russian economy, averaged $76.09 per barrel in 2022, up from $69 in 2021. Many Russian billionaires cast Western sanctions as a clumsy, and even racist, tool. New Russian names in the Forbes list include billionaires who made their money in snacks, supermarkets, chemicals, building and pharmaceuticals, indicating that Russian domestic demand has remained strong despite the sanctions.

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The global nickel market flipped from deficit to surplus over the course of 2022, according to the International Nickel Study Group (INSG). Indonesia's mined nickel production expanded by 48% to 1.58 million tonnes in 2022, according to the INSG. However, as Indonesian production of Class II nickel rises, the Class I market shrinks. Around 70% of the physical nickel supply chain is now priced at a discount to the LME benchmark. LME nickel volumes slumped by 28% last year and January's activity was 60% lower than that of January 2022.

Downing Street referred requests for comment to the business ministry, which oversees Companies House, Britain’s public registry of companies. And, in most cases, if foreign companies purchased the property before 1999 or hold UK property in a trust they don’t need to publicly disclose the beneficial owners. The Cyprus-based company, A. Corp Trustee Limited, wasn’t listed on Britain’s new property register as of Tuesday morning. A listing on the UK’s new property register for Hanley Limited identifies the beneficial owner as a Swiss company called Pomerol Capital Sa. Ravellot also wasn’t on the new property register.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday stepped up sanctions against the Wagner Group, labeling the Russian mercenary company fighting in Ukraine as a transnational criminal organization responsible for widespread human rights abuses. The U.S. Treasury Department, as part of action targeting dozens of people and entities in an effort to degrade Russia's ability to wage the war, said it designated Wagner Group as a "significant transnational criminal organization" on Thursday. It had previously designated Wagner under its Russia and Ukraine sanctions programs. "These images were gathered in order to enable Wagner combat operations in Ukraine," Treasury said. He said the United States assesses Wagner has about 50,000 personnel deployed to Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts recruited from Russian prisons.

☆ Potanin says sanctions constrain Nornickel, force it to adjust strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] President and Chairman of the Board of MMC Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Potanin attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovJan 23 (Reuters) - Nornickel boss Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s richest men, said on Monday that the metals giant was reworking its strategy and building closer ties with countries such as China, Turkey and Morocco because of Western sanctions on the Russian economy. We have to deal with all this," added Potanin, who is Nornickel's (GMKN.MM) chief executive and biggest shareholder, owning 36% through his Interros holding group. Potanin reiterated the view he stated soon after the war began, that Russia should not respond to sanctions by confiscating or nationalising Western assets. Potanin was placed on a U.S. sanctions list last month as part of wider measures targeting people and businesses close to President Vladimir Putin.

Potanin is estimated to be Russia's richest or second richest person thanks to his stake in metals giant Nornickel (GMKN.MM). Maksut Shadaev, the head of Russia's ministry of digital affairs, told parliament in December that around 100,000 IT specialists had left Russia in 2022. Other hawkish politicians have advocated hitting remote workers and emigres with higher taxes and stripping them of their passports and Russian assets. Potanin said Moscow badly needs remote workers including computer programmers to help its battered economy recover. "No-one is convinced these measures will work," said the doctor, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals.

☆ Supreme dollar rules the roost in gold market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Bharat Gautam | Swati Verma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Alexander ManzyukThe Fed’s fight against inflation is expected to dictate sentiment in precious metals markets next year. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging inflation, COVID-19 restrictions and slowing growth meant precious metals had a mixed 2022. Spot gold at $1,821.50 an ounce at 19:28 GMT is on course to wrap up 2022 about 0.4% lower. Among other precious metals, silver at $23.87 an ounce is set to end the year over 2% up. Nornickel should also complete its smelter maintenance, allowing it to increase output,” according to Heraeus Precious Metals.

☆ Factbox: Who is Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Vladimir Potanin, who was placed on a U.S. sanctions list on Thursday, is one of Russia's wealthiest businessmen. - Potanin, 61, is the president and largest shareholder at Nornickel, the world's largest producer of palladium and refined nickel. In 2021 Nornickel was the world's top producer of refined nickel, used to make stainless steel and important for electric vehicle batteries. - The son of a high-ranking Soviet trade official, Potanin was educated at Moscow’s elite diplomatic academy. - Potanin has taken care to stay on the right side of President Vladimir Putin, for instance by accepting a $2 billion fine after Nornickel angered the president by causing Russia's biggest Arctic oil spill two years ago.

☆ U.S. Sanctions Russia’s Rosbank, Subsidiaries of VTB
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( David Smagalla | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. government has sanctioned Russian lender Rosbank and has expanded sanctions against VTB, one of the country’s largest banks, in a move to further limit the Russian government’s efforts to fund its war in Ukraine. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday announced sanctions against 17 subsidiaries of VTB, building on sanctions placed on the parent company in February, after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Treasury cited the importance of Rosbank to the Russian government, given that the lender is considered a “systemically important credit institution” in the country. The U.S. sanctions follow similar sanctions of Rosbank by the U.K. and Canada earlier this year. Nornickel wasn’t included in the State Department’s sanctions package.

☆ Russian Oligarch Vladimir Potanin, Nornickel Shareholder, Faces U.S. Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Vivian Salama | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. is moving to impose sanctions on one of Russia’s wealthiest men, Vladimir Potanin , as well as on some of his financial companies, U.S. officials said, as Washington looks for ways to further clamp down on Russia amid the war in Ukraine. The action, which could be announced as early as Thursday, is expected to include sanctions against Mr. Potanin, his wife Ekaterina Potanina and a yacht he owns, these officials said. Also on the list, according to these officials: Interros, an investment holding company Mr. Potanin controls, and Rosbank, which Interros bought from Société Générale SA earlier this year.

[1/3] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar attend a news conference following their talks in Moscow, Russia, November 8, 2022. India is keen to boost trade in this way, said the source, as it tries to narrow a ballooning trade deficit with Russia. During the Moscow visit, Jaishankar said India needed to boost exports to Russia to balance bilateral trade that is now tilted towards Russia. The list of items from Russia, which runs to nearly 14 pages, includes car engine parts like pistons, oil pumps and ignition coils. India is hoping to boost its exports to nearly $10 billion over coming months with Russia's list of requests, according to the government source.

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel trading has turned wild again this week. LME and ShFE nickel contracts price and volumeVOLATILITY TRAPThe fund exodus after March has left a liquidity vacuum and a self-reinforcing volatility trap in the nickel market. ("A financially constrained physical market", April 3, 2022)LME nickel trading volumes have fallen steeply since March. Year-to-date nickel volumes are 24% below last year's equivalent period, the scale of decline flattered by strong trading activity in January and February. But until inventory and volumes rebuild, time-spread turbulence and perma-backwardation are becoming the new normal in the Shanghai market.

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) has announced it will continue accepting Russian metal as good delivery against its industrial metal contracts, for now at least. Absent formal government sanctions against Russian aluminium, copper and nickel, everything depends on how many players choose not to take Russian metal in their 2023 supply contracts. The LME's discussion paper on the acceptability of Russian metal has revealed just how split the global industry is on the question right now. Two favoured thresholds for Russian metal, an option deemed too complex, and one abstained from making a choice. The company is a major producer of the Class I refined nickel that is deliverable against the LME nickel contract.

☆ Russian blue chips tank after people killed in Poland near Ukraine border
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/3] Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNov 15 (Reuters) - Shares of Russian blue chips including Gazprom (GAZP.MM), Rosneft (ROSN.MM), Sberbank (SBER.MM), Polyus (PLZL.MM) and Nornickel (GMKN.MM) were down by down 2-3.8% in late trade in Moscow. Two people were killed in an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, firefighters said on Tuesday. Russian defense ministry said no strikes near Ukrainian-Polish border were conducted by Russian weapons. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The status of Russian metal has been a key talking-point at the many seminars and parties this week in London. Should the LME suspend deliveries of Russian aluminium, copper and nickel or should it maintain its policy of not preempting official sanctions? German copper producer Aurubis (NAFG.DE) has joined U.S. aluminium producer Alcoa (AA.N) in publicly calling for an LME ban on Russian metal. There is a lot of metal supply at stake here. An LME ban on deliveries of Russian metal would clearly have significant ramifications for both LME and physical market pricing.

☆ Russia's Rusal files London lawsuit against Potanin over Nornickel pact
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The dispute centres on an agreement brokered by Moscow in 2012 between Nornickel's two largest shareholders, Potanin and Rusal, which protected its dividend payouts. Disputes over dividends have been the main reason for on-and-off rows between shareholders at Nornickel and Rusal over the past 14 years. SEEKING COMPENSATIONThe London lawsuit comes as Moscow faces Western sanctions over what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. While Nornickel has not been directly targeted by Western sanctions, Potanin was sanctioned by Britain in June. Potanin has been chief executive of Nornickel for the duration of the agreement and Rusal said in its statement that it now required a "professional independent executive" as CEO.

"SAP is fully committed to winding down our business in Russia as quickly as possible," a SAP spokesperson said. Russia's parliament has been discussing draft legislation that would allow Moscow to seize Western companies' assets and possibly prosecute executives involved in implementing sanctions against Russia. While Gazprom and Sberbank were hit by Western sanctions, Nornickel was not. The SAP case sheds light on the complications Western companies face leaving Russia. While some departing companies have fired local staff, SAP gave them the option to relocate from Russia.

☆ Rusal accuses Potanin of breaching Nornickel shareholder pact
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aluminium ingots are seen stored at the foundry shop of the Rusal Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter in Krasnoyarsk, Russia October 3, 2018. Under the management of Mr. Potanin, Norilsk Nickel lost a number of assets that played a key role in group's activities. This resulted in Norilsk Nickel and its shareholders suffering significant losses." In July, Potanin in July floated the idea of a $60 billion merger of Nornickel with Rusal as a means of mitigating possible sanctions risks, but he said last month the idea had been postponed. He also said the 10-year shareholder agreement protecting Nornickel's dividend payouts was on track to expire at the end of 2022.

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - European copper buyers are going to be paying a lot more to get their metal next year. Aurubis (NAFG.DE) cited a combination of high freight and power costs and low visible copper stocks. European annual copper premiumsSANCTIONS CREEPThere were no official sanctions on Russian copper until earlier this month, when the British government announced an asset freeze on Iskander Makhmudov. ASIAN DISCOUNTWhat will happen to all the Russian copper if Europe stages a collective boycott? The sharp hike in next year's European premiums says much about the cost of refusing Russian metal.

Annual supply contracts are in the process of being negotiated and at least some buyers are "self-sanctioning" by specifying no Russian metal in 2023. LME stocks and percentage of Russian metalCOPPER FLOWSThe proportion of Russian copper in LME stocks was actually higher in the third quarter of 2021, when it reached 95% of live tonnage, LME data shows. With just Nornickel still fully unsanctioned, the amount of potentially deliverable Russian copper is sharply reduced. Moreover, there is an obvious destination for any unsold Russian copper next year. The three options are to do nothing, set thresholds for Russian metal deliveries or suspend all warranting across all locations.

Indonesian nickel production by mine and productPOWERING UPIndonesia's nickel boom reflects both the country's rich mineral resources and the government's drive to push miners down the value-add processing chain. China's imports of nickel by product 2020-2022PRICING DOWNThis Indonesian supply surge was widely expected, but its exact timing was fuzzy given the number of new processing routes being used to convert ore to battery nickel. The combination of European demand shock, Indonesian production burst and the closing of the processing gap between stainless and battery nickel means there "is close to 30% downside for the nickel price into year-end". This mismatch of market-place and market is one of the reasons the LME nickel contract melted down in March. Macquarie Bank now provides three different nickel price forecasts for LME refined metal, Chinese nickel pig iron and Chinese nickel sulphate.

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