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Why did metal prices surge on 7 March 2022?
Summary
A look back at a day when aluminium, nickel, copper and palladium prices climbed as markets braced for Russian supply shortages.
What happened to metal markets on 7 March 2022? Prices climbed to new highs as traders weighed the effect of further sanctions on Russia, a substantial producer of several key metals.
Aluminium and nickel both registered record prices on the London stock exchange, at about $4,000 and $55,000 per tonne respectively. Nickel rose 90% in intraday trading. Copper also hit a new high, at $10,845 per tonne, while palladium reached $3,440 per ounce.
The market expected shortages of these commodities as sanctions on Russia widened.
The oil dimension
The search for alternatives to Russian supply extended beyond metals. On 6 March 2022, the United States started talks with Venezuela about supplies of its oil, which was under sanctions, in an attempt to substitute Russian crude. The talks had yielded few results so far.
Together, the two developments showed how the pressure on Russian exports was being felt in commodity markets in the first days of March 2022.
