Nonferrous metals being sold in Russia at big discount to LME prices

MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - Aluminum, copper, nickel and zinc have been sold on the Russian market in March and April at a "significant discount" to prices on the London Metal Exchange, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Yevtukhov said.

"Systemic work is being done to unpeg the price of nonferrous metals from exchange quotes on the LME. For example, an agreement has been worked out with a number of companies to set a fixed price for the domestic market," Yevtukhov told reporters.

"As a result, in March and April of this year prices for aluminum, copper, nickel and zinc on the Russian market do not depend on upward global trends, and nonferrous metals are being sold inside the country with a significant discount compared to international exchange prices," he said.

Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said at the end of March that his ministry and metal companies had agreed to move away from pegging domestic prices to the LME and to calculate them in rubles. Metal companies' use of a ruble component in calculating domestic prices will also be taken into account when discussing the tax with the Finance Ministry, he said.