After Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports, commodity prices climbed today, with nickel hitting a new record.
So the London Metal Exchange (LME) suspended trading in nickel, at least for the rest of the day, following the metal traded up almost 400% from the end of Friday’s session.
“Nickel is clearly trading in crisis mode,” said analysts at ING. “The fundamentals, while supportive of stronger prices, do not justify this frenzy,” he said, adding that the market had long faced structural problems.
Likewise, among haven assets, spot gold jumped more than 35% to break back above the $2,000-an-ounce mark for the first time since August 2020, while palladium advanced around 3% to approach Monday’s historic level.
Brent crude soared more than 7% to trade near $130 a barrel, while US gasoline prices jumped nearly $10 intraday.
Russia is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and the world’s second largest exporter of crude oil and oil products. The country supplies more than a third of the energy of Europe and it is also a major producer of fertilizers, wheat, aluminum, nickel, palladium, platinum, and coal.
Western sanctions have isolated the country from trade and financial markets to a degree never seen before for such a large economy, given that the fighting in southern Ukraine have largely blocked their exports.
United States banned Russian oil imports and is working closely with European allies on the move, sources said, following Tuesday’s announcement by the Democratic president. Joe Biden.
Shell oil company It stopped buying Russian crude and said it would phase out its share of the country’s hydrocarbons, from oil to natural gas, becoming one of the first big companies in the sector to exit the Russian energy business.
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world gas markets they remained volatile following hitting all-time highs. Analysts said an embargo on gas exports is unlikely, though Russia has threatened to retaliate for Western sanctions, halting flows through the gasoducto Nord Stream 1.
“Germany, on the other hand, remains reluctant to ban Russia’s energy exports, which markets may read as a bearish sign,” said Kaushal Ramesh, senior analyst at Rystad Energy.
The Russian gas that is exported through the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline -crossing Poland– was flowing west towards Germany on Tuesday, and shipments towards Slovakia via Ukraine remained at high levels, data from the pipeline operator showed.
