Apple refuses to buy tungsten and gold from Russia

The American company Apple officially refused to purchase tungsten, tantalum and gold from Russia, but continues to receive Russian metals. About it informed “Kommersant” with reference to the company’s financial statements.

The manufacturer of equipment refused to use metals from Russian enterprises “at the request of the US government”, while the report of the company itself indicates the Moliren plant in the Moscow region, where the tungsten is supplied from.

At the same time, South Korean Samsungaccording to its reporting, did not refuse to use Russian tungsten, gold and tantalum in its smartphones – all these metals come to the company from Moliren, the Unech Refractory Metals Plant (UZTM), Uralelectromed, the Novosibirsk Refinery, the Moscow Plant for the Processing of Special Alloys ( MZSS), Solikamsk Magnesium Plant (SMZ), etc.

According to a source close to the SMZ plant, the company directly with Apple and Samsung never interacted. He noted that the main partner of the plant is the Kazakh Ulba Metallurgical Plant, with which SMZ cooperates on tantalum. “Previously, products were also supplied to Germany and Austria, but now, for obvious reasons, this is impossible,” the source said.

In September 2022, Reuters, citing UN Comtrade statistics reportedthat the supply of Russian aluminum and nickel to the United States and the European Union in March-June last year, after the start of the military operation in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions against the Russian Federation, increased by 70% compared to the same period in 2021. Then, in monetary terms, the volume of supplies of nickel and aluminum amounted to about $1.98 billion.

The agency noted that the increase in the supply of non-ferrous metals indicates that it is “difficult for the West to put pressure on the Russian economy, which has shown better results than expected.” In addition, the demand for imported aluminum in the EU countries is explained by high electricity prices, which began to grow after the Union imposed sanctions on its export by Russia.