(Bloomberg) -- Aluminum's retreat from a record surge gained momentum Monday as the U.S. opened the door to relief from sanctions on giant Russian producer United Co. Rusal.
The metal headed for the biggest loss since November 2010 in London, pushing down shares in producers such as Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Corp. Nickel also plunged after jumping in the past two weeks on speculation it could also be roiled by sanctions.
Commodities markets have been rocked this month as the curbs on Rusal, the largest aluminum supplier outside China, set off a rush for alternative supplies. The U.S. will provide sanctions relief to Rusal if Oleg Deripaska relinquishes control and extended the deadline for companies to wind down dealings with Russian aluminum producer, the Treasury Department said in guidance published on Monday.
“If that is the case, all the supply issues that people were worried about over the last week just disappear,” Ryan McKay, a commodity strategist at TD Securities in Toronto, said in a telephone interview. “Without the sanctions, it’s a pretty well-supplied market.”
Aluminum for delivery in three months dropped 5.5 percent to $2,333 a metric ton at 1:37 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Alcoa slumped 8 percent before regular trading at 8:25 a.m. in New York. Century Aluminum Co . (NASDAQ:CENX) plunged 4.5 percent.