Below are the details of the Russia’s main commodity exports.
ALUMINUM
Most Russian metals producers have so far escaped sanctions imposed by the West since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.
An exception is the world’s largest aluminum producer outside of China, Rusal, which is subject to measures imposed by the United States between April 2018 and early 2019.
Rusal produced 3.8 million tons of aluminum in 2021, about 6% of the estimated world production.
COBALT
Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that Russia produced 7,600 tons of cobalt last year, more than 4% of the world total.
Russia was the second largest producer, far behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which produced 120,000 tonnes.
COPPER
Russia produced 920,000 tonnes of refined copper last year, about 3.5% of the world’s total, according to the USGS, of which Nornickel produced 406,841 tonnes.
Asia and Europe are the main export markets.
NICKEL
Nornickel is the world’s leading producer of refined nickel. It produced 193,006 tons in 2021, that is, about 7% of the world total, estimated at 2.7 million tons.
PALLADIUM AND PLATINUM
Nornickel is also the world’s largest producer of palladium and a major producer of platinum.
Last year it produced 2.6 million troy ounces of palladium, or 40% of the world’s total, and 641,000 ounces of platinum, roughly 10% of total mining output.
GOLD
Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of gold, after Australia and China, and accounts for about 10% of global mining output, which according to the World Gold Council amounted to 3,500 tonnes last year.
Russian gold is produced by companies such as Polyus and Polymetal.
TITANIUM
The Russian company VSMPO-Avisma supplies titanium to Boeing and Airbus. USGS data shows Russia produced 27,000 tons of titanium sponge and Ukraine 5,400 tons last year. Together they represent about 15% of the world total.
STEEL
Russia produced 76 million tons of steel, almost 4% of the world total, according to the World Steel Association.
Severstal, NLMK, Evraz, MMK and Mechel are the main Russian producers. They export about half of their production, mainly to Europe.
DIAMONDS
State-controlled Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by volume, produced 32.4 million carats in 2021, about 30% of the world total. It exports mainly to Belgium, India and the United Arab Emirates.
FERTILIZERS
Russia is a large producer of potash, phosphate and nitrogen-containing fertilizers, that is, nutrients for crops and soil. It produces more than 50 million tons of these fertilizers a year, 13% of the world total. They export to Asia and Brazil.
CEREALS AND OIL SEEDS
Russia and Ukraine are the main suppliers of wheat, with a combined 29% of world exports, most of which pass through Black Sea ports.
Ship traffic in the small Sea of Azov has already been suspended, and if shipments from the Black Sea are interrupted, major importers, especially from the Middle East and North Africa, will be forced to look elsewhere.
Ukraine is one of the world’s top four corn exporters, along with the United States, Argentina and Brazil.
The two countries also represent about 80% of world exports of sunflower oil.
Source: Ambito
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