The US government’s plans to announce a new series of major sanctions against Russia on February 23 have boosted the prices of stainless steel, nickel, and aluminum, of which the LME nickel price hit a new high.

Russia is a major producer of refined nickel, aluminum, and palladium, so the news of US’ sanctions on Russia has raised concerns about the supply of these metals.

Market participants speculated that the planned sanction should be related to the Russian metal industry as the sector hasn’t been restricted by broad sanctions imposed by the US.

After Biden’s comments on Tuesday (February 20), aluminum futures rose more than 2% and nickel hiked by nearly 2% on Wednesday.