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1) The White House imposed a 200% tariff on imported aluminum from Russia, along with any imports that include Russian aluminum. Domestic aluminum companies said that they support the move as analysts and executives are predicting that it will have minor effect on domestic aluminum costs. Russia is one of the world's largest producers of aluminum, with smelters and large reserves of bauxite. The Aluminum Association, a trade group that represents U.S. producers and users of aluminum, said it “stands united in support of any and all efforts deemed necessary by the U.S. government to address the ongoing crisis.” This should strengthen the domestic supply chain as it will make the US less reliant on foreign sources. Alcoa said that tariffs are a good first step, but would like to see it illegal to buy or sell Russian aluminum in the US. “U.S. market participants weren’t surprised by the announcement,” said Christopher Davis, regional pricing director for Americas metals at S&P Global Commodity Insights. “They said the increased tariffs were unlikely to have a significant impact on U.S. pricing.”
2) China's lithium industry is facing challenges as the top production hub, accounting for about a tenth of the world's supply is facing closures as the government is investigating environmental infringements. The lithium operations located in Yichun, Jiangxi province, have been halted as Beijing officials arrived to probe alleged violations. It is uncertain how long this will cause the mines to shut down, but a month-long closure could reduce the output to around 13% of the world's total, according to Bai Junfei at Citic Securities Co.