Production of aluminum at RUSAL smelter factory, Russia © Ilya Naymushin / Reuters
Reuters: U.S. extends deadline for Rusal sanctions, aluminum prices dive
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Monday gave American customers of Russia’s biggest aluminum producer more time to comply with sanctions, sending aluminum prices into a tailspin but lifting shares of the company, United Company Rusal Plc.
Aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange tumbled more than 8 percent after the U.S. Treasury Department announcement, which gives Rusal longer to sell off the large quantities of aluminum it had been stockpiling in the wake of sanctions as customers and traders avoided its product.
Shares in Rusal, one of the world’s largest aluminum companies, rose 13 percent on the Moscow Exchange after the announcement. Earlier, Rusal had ended Hong Kong trading down 8.4 percent. Shares of its U.S. rival Alcoa Corp slid 13 percent in morning trading.
Read more ....
Update: US Treasury extends deadline for ending deals with Rusal until October 23 (TASS)
WNU Editor: Russia's aluminum giant Rusal is a major player in Russia's economy, and sanctions on this company are causing deep concerns in the Kremlin. And while many in Russia are relieved in this shift in U.S. policy on Russian sanctions, there is a big US Treasury condition to this extension .... US hints at relieving pressure on Russia's RUSAL if owner sells firm (RT)
