Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has opened formal proceedings against aluminum producer Rusal over its pricing practices in the domestic market, escalating a months-long dispute between the country’s competition regulator and one of its largest industrial groups.
According to The Moscow Times, citing Interfax, the regulator alleges that Rusal failed to comply with previous instructions to revise the terms under which it sells aluminum to Russian customers. The case centers on concerns that domestic buyers may have been charged prices that were not aligned with current export market conditions.
The FAS said it had previously warned the company that its pricing methodology could violate competition rules and had granted extensions after Rusal requested additional time to respond. However, the agency stated that the company ultimately did not implement the requested changes, leading regulators to initiate formal antitrust proceedings.
Russian authorities have argued that Rusal’s pricing formula continued to incorporate a regional premium linked to European market benchmarks, despite the company’s export flows increasingly shifting toward Asian markets in recent years. According to earlier reporting by The Moscow Times, the regulator contends that this approach may have resulted in some Russian industrial consumers paying more for aluminum than certain foreign customers.
The dispute highlights broader concerns in Russia regarding pricing practices in concentrated commodity markets, where a limited number of producers hold significant market influence. The FAS has previously emphasized that aluminum pricing has broad implications for downstream industries, including packaging, construction materials, engineering products and power-sector equipment.
Rusal is the world’s largest aluminum producer outside China and occupies a dominant position in Russia’s domestic aluminum market. The company was founded by businessman Oleg Deripaska and remains a strategically important supplier to numerous industrial sectors.
Earlier this year, the antitrust regulator warned that Rusal’s pricing policies could place Russian processors at a competitive disadvantage. The agency subsequently recommended that the company develop a formal sales and trading policy aimed at reducing the risk of antimonopoly violations and improving transparency in pricing mechanisms.
Interfax reported that, if the company is ultimately found to have violated competition laws, it could face a turnover-based fine under Russian antitrust regulations.
Rusal has pushed back against the regulator’s demands. Russian media reports citing company representatives said the producer has challenged the FAS warning in court, arguing that the proposed changes to pricing rules conflict with existing competition legislation and could lead to unequal treatment of different customer groups.
The pricing dispute comes as Russia continues to adapt its commodity trade flows following Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. Since 2022, Russian metals producers have increasingly redirected exports toward Asian markets after losing access to parts of Europe and other traditional destinations.
The reorientation of trade has also altered pricing dynamics in the aluminum sector. Earlier statements from the FAS suggested that European price references may no longer accurately reflect the commercial realities of Russia’s export markets, strengthening the regulator’s argument that domestic pricing formulas should be revised.
Rusal itself has undergone significant changes to its supply chain in recent years. The company lost access to some traditional sources of alumina following sanctions and trade restrictions and subsequently expanded supply arrangements in countries including China and India while pursuing new refining projects.
The current investigation represents one of the most prominent recent examples of Russian authorities scrutinizing pricing practices in strategically important commodity sectors. Competition regulators have increasingly sought to ensure that domestic industrial consumers are not disadvantaged by export-oriented pricing mechanisms, particularly in industries considered vital to national economic development.
Source: The Moscow Times
