Russia increased aluminium production 2.1% and nickel 1.4% year-on-year in January, however copper production fell 5.5%, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said.

Aluminium production grew due to production optimization, increased alloy production and the commissioning of Russian aluminium giant RUSAL's Khakass smelter. Rosstat said that RUSAL's Sayanogorsk smelter edged aluminium production up 0.6% and the Krasnoyarsk smelter increased it 3.8%. SUAL's Bogoslovsk smelter raised production 0.4%.

Russia's aluminium producers are still prioritizing the external market over the domestic market: Rosstat said that RUSAL's smelters exported something like 81% of their output in January.