According to foreign news on April 15, LME aluminum surged to a 22-month high on Monday, and nickel hit a seven-month high after the United States and Britain banned the London Metal Exchange (LME) and CME from accepting new Russian aluminum and nickel.
Aluminium for three-month delivery on the LME rose 2.1% to $2,546 a tonne.
Nickel for three-month delivery on the LME rose 1.6 percent to $18,075 a tonne, down from an intraday peak of $19,355.
Trading could be volatile as the market digests and calculates the potential impact of the new restrictions.
On April 13, the United States and the United Kingdom announced new trading restrictions on Russian aluminum, copper and nickel. The new rules prohibit the LME and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from accepting newly produced metals from Russia, with Russian aluminium, copper and nickel produced on or after April 13 among those banned. The United States has also banned imports of the three metals from Russia.
Russian aluminum giant Rusal said in a statement that "the new sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom on Russian metals will not affect the company's supply capacity, as Rusal's global logistics distribution solutions, banking systems, overall production and quality systems will not be affected."
"We will remain able to offer hedging services to our customers and remain committed to market-based pricing," Rusal said.
Liberum analyst Tom Price said: "The metal most affected by this policy is aluminum. I don't think anyone is really struggling with copper and nickel."
"A large amount of aluminum in LME warehouses comes from Russia, and LME contracts are heavily dependent on Russian aluminum flows. Aluminium prices have risen recently."
LME aluminum jumped 9 percent in April, partly due to supply concerns.
Nickel supply growth in Indonesia, the largest nickel producer, is expected to limit price gains, while many copper consumers have found alternatives to Russian supplies.
In terms of price spreads, concerns about LME supply have narrowed the premium for spot aluminum over three-month aluminum to a two-month low of $20 a tonne.
In other metals, copper for three-month delivery on the LME rose 0.5 percent to $9,505 a tonne.
Zinc for three-month delivery on the LME fell 1.6% to $2,783 a tonne.
LME lead for three-month delivery slipped 0.3 percent to $2,169 a tonne.
