PRICING NOTICE: Update on Fastmarkets’ aluminium premiums following Rusal sanction removal

Fastmarkets will again accept Rusal material produced after April 6, 2018, in its aluminium price assessments following the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) decision to remove sanctions imposed on UC Rusal.

January 28, 2019

The US sanctions on Rusal were removed on Sunday January 27, 2019, having been imposed on April 6, 2018.

Transactions, bids and offers in the United States, Japan and Europe for Rusal’s aluminium ingots and t-bars and products produced both before and after April 6 will now be taken into consideration during the price assessment process.

This includes Fastmarkets’ benchmark P1020 premiums in Rotterdam, Italy, the US Midwest and main Japanese ports (MJP) as well as the billet and primary foundry alloy premiums.

Following the US sanctions being imposed on Rusal in April, Fastmarkets followed guidance provided by OFAC and the London Metal Exchange and all data for Rusal’s aluminium ingots and products produced after April 6 was discarded during the price assessment process.

The LME introduced a “temporary conditional suspension” on placing Rusal metal on-warrant in response to the sanctions. This suspension has now been removed allowing the warranting of Rusal dated before and after April 6, 2018, to resume.

The LME notice released on January 28 also said its members are now free to enter into contracts with Rusal.

Fastmarkets reserves the right, as per its methodology, to discard any pricing data that it views as non-reflective of the spot market.

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents go https://www.metalbulletin.com/prices/pricing-methodology.html.