India Supplies Aluminum to Russia for the First Time Amid Domestic Market Challenges

For the first time, India has supplied aluminum to Russia, despite Russia being the world's second-largest exporter of the metal, as revealed by an analysis of Indian customs data conducted by RIA Novosti.

In April, India exported 44.8 thousand tons of unprocessed aluminum to Russia, valued at $16.5 million. This marks the first shipment of aluminum from India to Russia since at least early 2009, the earliest available public data.

The significant volume of aluminum delivered from India to Russia may be attributed to difficulties in acquiring the metal domestically from one or more consumers, according to independent industry expert Leonid Khazanov.

Khazanov explained that domestic enterprises using unprocessed aluminum to manufacture products face constraints due to the monopoly of Rusal, Russia's sole primary aluminum producer, and a limited number of secondary aluminum smelters. "Purchasing aluminum abroad, mainly from Asian countries, allows these enterprises to reduce their reliance on Russian producers' sales policies, despite the extended logistical distance," he said.