The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the multiplication of economic sanctions against Moscow caused the prices of gas and metals such as aluminum, copper and palladium to soar on Monday, pushing them to new all-time highs.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea had come close to 140 dollars at the start of the Asian session, close to its absolute record of 147.50 dollars reached in July 2008, before the prices of black gold calmed down. a little.
LiveLIVE - War in Ukraine: Kiev refuses humanitarian corridors to Belarus and Russia
The United States and the European Union are "discussing very actively" the possibility of banning Russian oil imports in response to the invasion of Ukraine, US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Sunday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was more cautious, however, avoiding mentioning import bans on Sunday as Russia supplies 40% of the gas consumed in the EU.
The fear of seeing even more limited supplies of hydrocarbons and raw materials in an already overheated market has led to a “panic phenomenon (which) has caused prices to soar”, summarizes Neil Wilson, analyst at Markets.com.
The price of European benchmark gas, the Dutch TTF, jumped to a new record, at 345 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
Around 09:05 GMT (10:05 in Paris), he gained 45% to 280 euros.
A rise in prices that also includes that of metals
In the wake of energy prices, those of Russian-produced metals climbed, with aluminum topping $4,000 a tonne for the first time while copper and palladium hit new all-time highs at $10,845. per tonne and $3,442.47 per ounce respectively.
Shortly before 08:00 GMT, a tonne of aluminum for delivery in three months peaked at 4,073.50 dollars on the London base metals market (London Metal Exchange, LME).
Nickel, without reaching its last peaks dating back to 2007, rose by more than 25%, up to 37,800 dollars.
The situation in Ukraine has also caused gold, a safe haven, to soar, which exceeded 2,000 dollars an ounce on Monday morning, reaching its highest level since September 2020.
