The latest round of sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom on Russian metal exports are reshaping global metals markets. These sanctions effectively remove a significant portion of supply from Western markets, as they prohibit new Russian-produced metals such as nickel, aluminum, and copper from being traded on major exchanges like the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

At a time where prices in gold, copper, and other metals are crossing record highs, the new sanctions are unlikely to blunt Russian exports. Instead, Russian metals are likely to continue their reorientation toward more willing buyers at a slight discount, most notably to China and India. For consumers outside of these markets, a run-up in metals prices materialized almost immediately upon news of the sanctions, underscoring the pervasive influence of Russian metal exports, even within Western exchanges.