In a significant development in international trade, India has supplied aluminum to Russia for the first time. This notable transaction occurred in April, with India exporting 44.8 thousand tons of unprocessed aluminum to Russian companies, valued at $16.5 million, according to an analysis of Indian customs data by RIA Novosti.
This marks the first recorded supply of aluminum from India to Russia since at least the beginning of 2009, as no earlier data is available in the public domain. The move is particularly striking given Russia’s position as the world’s second-largest exporter of aluminum, with exports worth $6.5 billion in 2023.

Industry Insights

Leonid Khazanov, an independent industry expert, suggests that this significant volume of aluminum supply from India could be linked to challenges faced by Russian consumers in procuring aluminum domestically. “Domestic enterprises in Russia that use primary aluminum for manufacturing are often caught between the limited supply from Rusal, Russia’s sole primary aluminum producer, and a small number of secondary aluminum smelters. By importing aluminum, especially from Asian countries like India, these enterprises can mitigate their reliance on the domestic supply chain and the sales policies of Russian manufacturers, despite the complexities and costs associated with long-distance logistics,” Khazanov explained in an interview with RIA Novosti.