The West excludes an "important" Russian metal trader from sanctions

Sanctions imposed by the West on some Russian companies and wealthy people, in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, excluded the Russian metal giant Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest supplier of nickel and palladium, which are essential minerals for electric car batteries and semiconductors, due to the need West pressing to these two minerals.

Russia's MMC Norilsk Nickel produces much of the two metals needed for greener transportation and computer chips from its base in the former Soviet camp in the Arctic.

So far, the United States and its allies have not sanctioned the company, or its oligarchic CEO, highlighting the dilemma some analysts say governments face in seeking to punish Russia without hurting its access to commodities, says the Wall Street Journal.

After being included in Western sanctions, the call of some members of the oligarchy in Russia, close to President Vladimir Putin, to stop the war on Ukraine, raised questions about their ability to put pressure on the military leadership.

This company is responsible for about 5 percent of the annual global production of nickel, a key component of electric vehicle batteries. The company, also known as Nornickel, also produces power transmission metals such as cobalt and copper.

Russia is the largest producer of palladium, which is used in catalytic converters and semiconductors. Moscow-based Nornickel's production accounted for 40 percent of global miners' production of the metal last year.

Reuters says Russia's Nornickel is the world's largest supplier of palladium.

The price of these metals has jumped since Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid fears that Western sanctions or logistical difficulties caused by the conflict could choke off supplies.

Palladium rose 4.3 percent to $3,130.16 an ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $3,172.22 earlier in the session.

Last Friday, nickel was trading at its highest level in a decade, up 37 percent so far this year.

Despite the rise in metals prices, Nornickel's share price is down 17 percent so far this year. Like the prices of other Russian commodity companies.

The decline is likely to be sharper, given that trading in stocks listed in Moscow was suspended several days ago, due to their low prices.

Many Western companies, according to the Wall Street Journal, say they are looking to diversify their supplies away from Nornickel, in light of a trend in many commodities, including oil and steel, in which Western buyers are turning away from Russian suppliers amid fears of their exposure. For sanctions or for the difficulty of removing products from the country, according to the report, which was translated by the "Al-Hurra" website.