EU sanctions halt Nornickel Harjavalta’s copper slag shipments from Pori to Murmansk

New EU sanctions have forced Nornickel Harjavalta to suspend shipments of copper slag from Finland’s Pori port to Murmansk, Russia, the company’s managing director told Finnish broadcaster Yle on Monday.

The 20th EU sanctions package, introduced in April, includes a business ban on Murmansk’s commercial port. Nornickel Harjavalta, part of the Russian-owned metals and mining giant Nornickel, has now halted all copper slag transports via this route.

“We are exploring alternative ports, but no decisions on new shipping destinations have been made yet,” managing director Joni Hautojärvi told Yle, when asked about potential replacements such as Vyborg, St. Petersburg, or Ust-Luga.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Nornickel Harjavalta has shipped copper slag—an intermediate product from nickel ore processing—back to its parent company in Russia. According to Yle, around six vessels per year have transported the material from Pori to Murmansk.

The copper slag, a byproduct of refining Russian-supplied nickel ore, is primarily sold internally within the Nornickel group. Finnish customs data shows that between 2024 and 2025, the value of these shipments reached approximately €200 million, down from €600 million in 2022.

Hautojärvi noted that while EU sanctions do not currently prevent the sale of copper slag within the bloc, technical compatibility with European smelters and refineries would depend on commercial terms and available capacity. Russian nickel ore itself remains unaffected by EU restrictions.