Treasury May Drop Rusal Sanctions If Someone Says ‘Please’ – Aluminum Drops

I swear to God, sometimes I don’t even know why anybody bothers – I guess to show them we can if we want to.

Apparently, Mnuchin is considering dropping the sanctions against Rusal contingent upon Deripaska giving up control. Here’s the official word from Treasury:

576. Under what circumstances can OFAC give further sanctions relief to RUSAL or any other entity in which RUSAL owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest?

Consistent with OFAC regulations, parties may be removed by demonstrating a change in the circumstances that led to their designation. In the case of RUSAL, absent other adverse information and consistent with the facts and circumstances of any petition for delisting, the path for the United States to provide sanctions relief is through divestment and relinquishment of control of RUSAL by Oleg Deripaska.

On top of that, Treasury extended the deadline for companies when it comes to how long they can continue to trade with Rusal. The cutoff date is now October 23:

(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this general license, all transactions and activities otherwise prohibited by the Ukraine Related Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 589, that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the maintenance or wind down of operations, contracts, or other agreements, including the importation of goods, services, or technology into the United States, involving United Company RUSAL PLC or any other entity in which United Company RUSAL PLC owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest and that were in effect prior to April 6, 2018, are authorized through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, October 23, 2018.

Needless to say, all of that is bearish for aluminum or actually, it’s just an excuse to sell the ridiculous rally catalyzed by the sanctions (more on that here).

And here’s oil:

It looks like that was also good for a pop in the rube, although it looks like that’s fading fast:

I wonder if anyone told Nikki Haley or whether she’s still “confused”…