Russian Bullion Refineries Suspended from London and American Markets

As there is no sign of the Russia-Ukraine conflict calming down, Russian businesses are continuing to face bans in the west. The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and CME Group have now suspended the six Russian gold and silver refiners.

These suspended refineries are JSC Krastsvetmet, JSC Novosibirsk Refinery, JSC Uralelectromed, Moscow Special Alloys Processing Plant, Prioksky Plant of Non-Ferrous Metals, and Shyolkovsky Factory of Secondary Precious Metals.

Though CME did not specify any reason behind its decision, the LBMA said that the suspension came with the mounting sanctions on Russia by the governments of the United Kingdom, European Union and the United States.

The exchanges did not put any time limit to the suspension, mentioning that it will be effective until ‘further notice’. However, the refineries can still trade gold and silver produced before March 7.

Largest Bullion Market

London is the largest bullion market in the globe and trillions of dollars of precious metals are traded each year in the city’s markets. Additionally, Russia is one of the largest gold producers, and now the Russian refineries will not have access to two of the largest bullion markets.

Moreover, bullion produced in Russia was hit with sanctions imposed on the commercial banks as they were primarily handling the exports.

Last month, the Central Bank of Russia decided to buy domestically produced bullion after a two-year pause of the program. However, the status of Russian palladium and platinum refineries remain unchanged, meaning they can be traded on the London Platinum and Palladium Market.

Meanwhile, the sanctions on Russia are mounting day-by-day, and the country’s economy is going to shambles. Furthermore, the Ruble tanked against the US dollar last week, and now most of the commercial banks have been sanctioned. The EU even banned 7 Russian banks from accessing SWIFT.