Not just a "super cycle": who will benefit from the growth in demand for non-ferrous metals

In mid-February 2022, there was an impression that RUSSIA was going to significantly increase copper production. Alisher Usmanov's enterprise took up the development of the Udokan copper ore deposit in Siberia. Kazakh mining company Kaz Minerals has invested in a competing project to develop the Baimskoye deposit in Chukotka. it is so inaccessible that it required its own port, an icebreaker and a floating nuclear power plant to work. Over the years, projects have been put on hold due to huge potential costs. A surge in copper prices has forced the reopening as demand for the metal, which is used everywhere from power grids to turbines, is expected to only increase.

In April 2022, copper prices continued to rise. But the mining companies found themselves in a difficult position. According to sources close to the companies, due to the sanctions imposed by Western countries after the start of the Russian military operation on the territory of Ukraine, they cannot receive critical foreign equipment. In addition, they lack the funds that Russian banks, which also faced restrictions, should have provided. The sanctions also affected Usmanov himself. “We are doing everything possible to ensure the continuity of business processes,” says a company representative. However, even if mining starts this year as planned, it is not clear who will buy its products. Foreign companies, even Chinese ones, eschew supplies from Russia.