Rusal’s June aluminium exports up 49 pct from May

MOSCOW, July 9 (Reuters) – Russian aluminium producer Rusal , placed under U.S. sanctions in April, increased aluminium exports by 49 percent in June, Interfax news agency said. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, saw its exports and internal supply chain crippled after Washington put the company and its co-owner Oleg Deripaska on a blacklist in response to Russia’s alleged meddling in U.S. elections. Deripaska and his team are working to persuade the U.S. Treasury Department to lift the sanctions, which stipulate that U.S. customers must wind down business with Rusal by Oct. 23. In the meantime, aluminium shipments continue, with Rusal smelters shipping 294,000 tonnes abroad in June, Interfax said, citing data from Russian Railways. The company’s exports of aluminium in the period between January and June this year, at 1.27 million tonnes, were 9 percent lower than during the same period the previous year, Interfax said, citing the data. Rusal was not immediately available for comment. Last year, Rusal, in which Deripaska’s En+ is a controlling shareholder, sold a total of 3.95 million tonnes of aluminium, of which 42 percent was shipped to Europe