Posted on 27 Mar 2024
A possible ban on the import of Russian nickel would hit Finland and other Western countries hard because they depend on Russian raw materials, admitted Finland’s minister of economic affairs, Wille Rydman.
“A good sanction is one that hits the target of the sanction more than the person imposing the sanction,” he told reporters last week. “It is for this reason that no import ban has been set. Finland and Europe would suffer from this much more than Russia. Currently, an import ban would be catastrophic for Western countries.”
According to the minister, Russian miner Nornickel’s Harjavalta plant in Finland is the largest nickel refining plant in the EU, and it produces a significant part of the nickel needed by the European battery industry. “The company’s production is mostly exported, including to the United States,” he noted.
Rydman recognises that the West’s dependence on Russian nickel is problematic, Kallanish notes. “There is no sense in showing Russia that we do not approve of what they are doing, and we would be showing it by shooting ourselves in the foot,” he said.
In 2023, Nornickel’s Harjavalta said it plans to increase nickel production to 140,000 tonnes/year.
The mayor of the city of Harjavalta, Hannu Kuusela, noted the plant is critically important for local authorities and residents employed in the copper and nickel industries.
Data from Nornickel Harjavalta shows production of 60,000 t/y of nickel and a turnover of about €1 billion ($1.08 billion) in 2023. The company accounts for roughly 5% of the global nickel production.
In 2022, the United States included the company’s president Vladimir Potanin and his holding company Interros on the sanctions list. Sanctions do not apply to Nornickel.
Source:Kallanish
