American electronics manufacturers are gradually abandoning Russian metals

Intel has officially joined Apple, which had previously refused to use metals from the Russian Federation in its devices. Google, which produces Pixel smartphones, and Microsoft, which produces game consoles, continue to use Russian tungsten, gold and tantalum in their gadgets. The United States has a ban on tantalum from the Russian Federation, but not a single company has been fined for such imports.

Kommersant got acquainted with the reports on the use of metals by American companies Intel, Alphabet (Google) and Microsoft at the end of 2022. Intel in its report states that it has refused to import tungsten, tantalum and gold from Russian factories, arguing this with the conflict in Ukraine. Two other US companies, according to the reports, did not follow suit.

Microsoft can use Russian metals in the production of Xbox game consoles, Surface tablets and laptops, and Google in Pixel phones.

In April, it became known that Apple refused to export metals from the Russian Federation, the South Korean Samsung continued to purchase Russian raw materials (see Kommersant dated April 13).

“Most likely, over time, Google and Microsoft will join Intel and also report that they are switching to alternative sources of supply due to the threat of fines from the US government,” said Oleg Izumrudov, executive director of the Consortium of Russian Data Storage Systems Developers. Yury Fedyukin, managing partner at Enterprise Legal Solutions, recalls that there is an embargo for American companies on the purchase of tantalum and its alloys in North Korea, China, Russia and Iran. The lawyer notes that violators may face a fine, but at the moment no company has been fined.

American companies will continue to purchase Russian raw materials through third countries, as Russia is in the top 3 exporters of tungsten, tantalum and gold for electronics, Mr. Izumrudov believes.

According to him, due to the complication of import schemes, the cost of devices may increase by 10% or more. For metals used in electronics, the purchase price is not critical, since the cost of microcircuits is small, objected Sergey Grishunin, managing director of the rating service of the National Rating Agency. “At the same time, the purity of alloys from Russian companies is higher,” he says.

Timofey Kornev