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"Light vehicle sales in Russia are expected to grow from 2015 to 2021 as the economic recovery is set to push organic growth. Global original equipment manufacturers (OEM) based in Russia are estimated to increase manufacturing localization from the current 45% level in response to the devaluation of the Russian ruble. The dynamics of local production of B-subcompact vehicles are set to continue driving demand within the segment. Over 5 interviews were conducted face-to-face and over the phone by senior consultants/industry analysts with vehicle manufacturers, OEMs, regulation authorities, and distributors in Russia."

Russia Copper Corp. (RCC), a Russia-based integrated producer of copper cathode and wirerod, said that there will be a steep rise in exports of copper cathode from 2015. The company expects Russia to cancel its 10% (variable on copper price) export duty on copper cathodes from 2015 as a prerequisite for its accession to the World Trade Organisation. RCC added that the cost incurred in producing wirerod is around $130/t and the average cost to send it abroad in Q1 2012 was $250/t, whereas the estimated cost of sending cathode abroad was $850/t in that period.

Russia"s metals giant Norilsk Nickel and the world"s largest mining company BHP Billiton have formed a joint venture to explore for minerals in Russia.

Production of copper wirerod at Kyshtym Copper Plant (JSC 'KMEZ'), Chelyabinsk region, Russia, increased by 57% y-o-y to reach 99,000t in 2011. The plant is majority owned by Russkaya Mednaya Kompaniya (RMK). Output of copper cathode at the facility also rose by 2% y-o-y to reach 115,600t. The plant is undergoing development and modernisation work, which involved an investment of 144M roubles (US$4.8M) in 2011 and is expected to require at least a further 170M roubles (US$5.6M) in 2012. RMK stated that it will invest 19.0B roubles (US$627M) in the Chelyabinsk region in 2012.

A cable factory located in Lyudinovo, Russia, has laid off 40 people and cut the wages of the remaining personnel by 15%. The decision of the cable manufacturer, which had recently started up a new production line, is attributed to the global financial crisis. Plunging copper prices are a major threat to Russia's economy due to the high dependence of the country on commodity exports.

Investors piled out of Russian stocks Friday after the abrupt departure from the country of a foreign oil boss and the prime minister's unexpected severe criticism of a large steel firm. MICEX, the exchange where the bulk of trading in Russian stocks takes place, plunged by 4.8 percent as of 12:20 p.m. Russian time, while the RTS, a top stock index, lost 4.4 percent to drop beneath the critical 2000-point barrier for the first time since March. After Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's scathing attack on Mechel late Thursday, heavy trading in New York sent the steel and coal maker's stock down by nearly 40 percent, losses mirrored Friday morning in Russian trading. The premier criticized the company, which is the largest supplier of coal for steelmakers in Russia, for charging much higher prices for raw materials domestically than it does for its exports, and called for an antitrust investigation into its activities.

MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's prime minister signed on Wednesday a resolution to completely eliminate plain nickel and cathode copper export duties, but kept 10% duties in place for refined copper and copper alloys, a government spokesman said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia this week pledged budget funds for clean energy and called for limits on greenhouse gas emissions in a reversal of the country's earlier reluctance to embrace the Kyoto Protocol and energy efficiency.

Many Japanese scrap dealers have reduced their shipments to copper alloy fabricators by more than 20% in October due to falling demand. Copper fabricators have decreased their scrap purchasing volumes because of weaker semis output. A number of brass bar makers decreased their buying volume of brass turning scrap by more than 30% in October. From the supply side, copper scrap generation has been tight. Scrap availability has been falling since July and that has triggered competition between scrap dealers to maintain adequate levels of inventory, which resulted in a spike in the market price in September.

The Nizhni Novgorod Copper Company will invest around RUB800M (US$32M) in a copper wirerod plant in Dzerzhinsk, in the Nizhni Novgorod region of Russia. The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 25,000t/y, and will use 26,000t/y of copper scrap. Commissioning is expected in late 2010.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Fedyashin) - On May 26, EU foreign ministers approved plans to begin discussing a new strategic partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) with Russia.

Gaisky GOK, a subsidiary of UMMC, the Russian miner and producer of copper semis, announced on 26th November that its net revenue for the first nine months of the year increased by 6.89% to RUB12.28B (US$395M). However, the company's net profit fell by 6.4%, to RUB2.53B (US$81M) in the same period compared to a year before. Gaisky GOK is based at the Gaisky field and controls three quarters of the copper reserves in the Orenbursky region of Russia. UMMC manufactures semis products from its Kirov non-ferrous plant and recently acquired a new round rolled production line from German company TUF-CERT according to its website.

Ural Metal and Mining Company (UMMC), a Russian vertically integrated producer of semi fabricated products, has said that it will continue its investment projects in semi-finished copper and copper alloy products despite a 6% y-o-y Jan-July decline in rolled demand this year. The company broke this figure down into its constituent segments: demand for copper pipes fell by 18% y-o-y and flat rolled products sales dropped 8% y-o-y in Jan-July. UMMC currently sells between 58,000-62,000t of rolled products per annum through its Kirov (flat rolled), Revda (flat rolled), Kolchugtsvetmet (tubes) and Majdanpek (tubes) operations. UMMC will complete its delayed 4-year investment strategy in 2013 with an upgrade of machinery at its Kolchugtsvetmet operation.

MOSCOW - In what would be one of the biggest mining deals in Russia this year, the metals tycoon Mikhail D. Prokhorov announced on Tuesday that he would sell 16.6 percent of the Arctic mining giant Norilsk Nickel to his former business partner, Vladimir O. Potanin. The two tycoons agreed last year to divide their holdings in Norilsk, a Russian factory founded by Stalin, whose value soared along with high commodity prices. Norilsk is the world's largest producer of nickel, a key alloy in stainless steel. Under the terms, as laid out in a statement from Mr. Prokhorov's investment company, Onexim, Mr. Potanin agreed to pay $10 billion for the 16.6 percent, in $6.5 billion cash and 35.2 percent of the shares in another mining company, Polyus Gold. The deal valued Norilsk Nickel at $315 a share, well above Monday's closing price of $216, and despite a recent drop in nickel prices, concerns of an economic slowdown and diminished demand for stainless steel.

MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's electricity monopoly will cease to exist on Tuesday when wide-ranging reforms to the electricity market come into effect.

Dave O'Reilly, chief executive of Chevron, said the oil-rich countries that erected barriers to international oil companies amid the run-up in commodity prices were now seeking their expertise in managing the drastic fall. "They're back now looking for [our] investment,'' Mr O'Reilly told Chevron's annual analysts' meeting. The high prices had led countries such as Venezuela and Russia to raise barriers to the international oil companies, which have gone from control of 85 per cent of the world's oil reserves in 1970 to less than 10 per cent now. With prices on the rise, these countries did not feel they had to be as careful with their resources; some began managing their own oil and gas and failed to reinvest adequate profits to maintain production.