Germany became Russia’s largest copper buyer in the European Union in July. It thus overtook the Netherlands for the first time since December 2023.
The Netherlands’ purchases of copper from Russia fell from €47.3 million to €4.8 million in a single month. Germany’s purchases rose from €11.9 million to approximately €13 million over the same period. Italy and Slovakia were the other EU countries that purchased significant amounts of copper from Russia in July. Italy’s purchases totaled €764,000, while Slovakia’s amounted to €566,000.
July exports fell to €19.2 million
The total value of Russia’s shipments of copper and copper products to the EU stood at €19.2 million in July. This was 3.1 times lower than in June and 21% lower than in the same month last year.
July shipments marked the lowest level after April of the same year. In April, Russia’s exports of copper and copper products to the EU were valued at €14.5 million.
Seven-month exports rose 8%
Despite the decline in July, Russia’s copper exports to the EU increased 8% in January-July compared with the same period last year. The value of total exports over the seven-month period reached €190.4 million.
The products EU countries purchased most from Russia in July were refined copper and unwrought copper alloys. Exports in this group stood at €15.5 million, down 3.7-fold month on month and 26% year on year.
Total exports of refined copper and unwrought copper alloys in January-July rose 24% to €189.9 million. Other Russian-origin copper products in July included copper powder and flakes worth €3.6 million, as well as copper tubes and pipes worth €67,000.
During the same period, EU countries imported bars and profiles worth €2,000 and other copper products worth €34,000 from Russia.
