Putin's commodities ban threat puzzles Russian firms and officials
Putin suggested banning certain strategic exports to West
Russian officials and managers caught unaware by surprise comments
Many Russian commodities already subject to Western import restrictions
Potential ban could hurt major Russian firms such as Rostec, Rosatom, and Nornickel
Kremlin spokesman Peskov emphasizes hypothetical nature of proposal
By Gleb Bryanski, Darya Korsunskaya and Gleb Stolyarov
MOSCOW, Sept 12 (Reuters) -Russian officials and managers are perplexed by President Vladimir Putin's surprise threat to limit exports of strategic commodities in response to Western sanctions, and wonder if it can be realised without hurting Russia more than the West.
Putin made the suggestion 23 minutes into a routine government meeting on Wednesday, asking Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to come up with some ideas that would not harm Russia's interests.
Yet many of Russia's commodities such as oil, gas, nickel, titanium, gold and diamonds are already subject to various levels of voluntary or mandatory import restrictions or even bans imposed by the West itself.
Russian government officials and company executives were caught off guard.
"Everyone is in a state of shock," said a source in one of the affected companies, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of appearing to criticise the president."This initiative came really out of the blue."
Another company source said: "It's like shooting yourself in the foot."
Cutting exports of uranium, nickel and titanium - which Putin mentioned explicitly - would cut the foreign currency earnings of Russia's biggest firms including state-owned industrial conglomerate Rostec, state nuclear monopoly Rosatom and Nornickel, the world's top producer of refined nickel.
Together, they employ about a million people, and their revenues have already been affected by Western sanctions.
Nornickel's GMKN.MM first-half profit fell by 22% as it tries to pivot its exports to Asia. It has described the combination of low nickel prices and Western sanctions as a "perfect storm".
The global market price of nickel did blip upwards on Putin's comments - but the current wealth of supply means it is far below historic highs.
A Russian government source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said any ban should spare so-called "friendly" countries including China, Russia's major trading partner.
URANIUM RESTRICTIONS COULD HURT WEST
The source stressed that it would take some time for the government to develop the plan - and that an order from the president to do so had yet to reach the government.
Another source close to the government added that Putin had "asked for a plan to be worked out, not implemented".
Major Russian commodities producers declined to comment.
Russia and the West are entering a new level of confrontation over the Ukraine war and Russia is pondering ways to respond to what it says is almost certain Western approval for Ukraine to strike deep into Russia using Western weapons.
Putin said that if Russia went ahead, the measure would not be limited to uranium, nickel and titanium. He noted that Russia has 22% of the world's natural gas reserves, 23% of gold reserves, and 55% of global diamond reserves.
Uranium may be the one commodity where restrictions could genuinely hurt the West.
Russia accounted for 27% of the enriched uranium supplied to U.S. commercial nuclear reactors last year. While the U.S. has in theory banned imports of the fuel from Russia, it also provided for waivers through 2027 as it expands its own enrichment facilities.
Yet Europe has largely weaned itself off the Russian gas it used to depend on. Group of Seven and European Union bans on imports of Russian-origin diamonds forced Moscow to buy up diamonds from its sanctions-hit producer, Alrosa ALRS.MM. And all Russia's major gold producers are already under Western sanctions.
Meanwhile, Russia's largest titanium sponge maker VSMPO-AVISMA, partly owned by Rostec, has been struggling to find replacements for supplies of titanium concentrate from Ukraine, with which Russia is at war.
Putin himself emphasised that restrictions would not happen "tomorrow", and that they must not harm Russia's interests.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed the as-yet hypothetical nature of the idea.
"There are no specifics yet, it was a proposal to think about it without harming ourselves, without damaging our own interests," he said. "They (the government) will consider it."
FACTBOX-Russia considers curbing metals supplies to the West ID:nL8N3KU0LJ
Putin says Russia should consider restricting uranium, titanium and nickel exports ID:nL8N3KT18C
Russian mining giant Nornickel's first-half profit slumps on weak prices ID:nL8N3KA0U3
Reporting by Gleb Bryanski, Dasha Korsunskaya, Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Gleb Bryanski; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kevin Liffey
Aset Terkait
Berita Terbaru
Pengungkapan: Entitas XM Group menyediakan layanan khusus eksekusi dan akses ke Fasilitas Trading Online kami, yang memungkinkan Anda untuk melihat dan/atau menggunakan konten yang tersedia pada atau melalui situs, yang tidak untuk mengubah atau memperluas, serta tidak mengubah atau memperluas hal tersebut. Akses dan penggunaan ini selalu sesuai dengan: (i) Syarat dan Ketentuan; (ii) Peringatan Risiko; dan (iii) Pengungkapan Penuh. Oleh karena itu, konten disediakan hanya sebagai informasi umum. Anda juga harus ketahui bahwa konten Fasilitas Trading Online kami bukan sebagai ajakan atau tawaran untuk untuk melakukan transaksi apa pun di pasar finansial. Trading di pasar finansial mana pun melibatkan tingkat risiko yang signifikan pada modal Anda.
Semua materi yang diterbitkan di Fasilitas Trading Online kami hanya untuk tujuan edukasi/informasi dan tidak boleh mengandung nasihat dan rekomendasi finansial, pajak investasi atau trading, catatan harga trading kami, penawaran, permintaan, transaksi dalam instrumen finansial apa pun atau promo finansial untuk Anda yang tidak diminta.
Konten pihak ketiga apa pun, serta konten yang disiapkan oleh XM, seperti opini, berita, riset, analisis, harga, informasi lain atau link ke situs pihak ketiga yang tersedia "sebagaimana adanya", sebagai komentar pasar umum dan bukan menjadi nasihat investasi. Sejauh konten apa pun ditafsirkan sebagai penelitian investasi, Anda harus memperhatikan dan menerima bahwa konten tersebut tidak dimaksudkan dan belum disiapkan sesuai dengan persyaratan hukum yang dirancang untuk mempromosikan kemandirian riset investasi dan dengan demikian akan dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah hukum dan peraturan yang relevan. Mohon dipastikan bahwa Anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi pada Riset Investasi Non-Independen dan Peringatan Risiko kami mengenai informasi di atas, yang dapat diakses disini.
