LONDON—Aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange shrugged off a decision by the United States to impose steep tariffs on Russian metal on Friday, though traders said prices would have jumped if the U.S. had imposed sanctions instead.
One year on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States said it would impose a 200 percent tariff on aluminum produced in Russia from March 10, effectively a ban on Russian aluminum imports to the country.
Benchmark aluminum on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 2.2 percent at $2,342 a ton at 1730 GMT after touching $2,321.5, its lowest since January 9.
“The game-changer would have been if the U.S. had imposed sanctions on Russian aluminium,” an aluminum trader said. “Sanctions would have meant that not many [consumers or traders] elsewhere in the world would touch Russian aluminium.”…