The dollar’s relentless surge to repeated records is making commodities priced in the currency more expensive for overseas buyers.

“In general the outlook is pretty weak for metals,” said Ryan McKay, a commodity strategist at TD Securities.

More sanctions on individuals - including those involved in organizing Moscow's ad hoc votes in occupied east Ukraine on joining Russia - are also expected.

In March, the miner took the governments of Greenland and Denmark to court for the legislation passed last year that banned uranium mining.

The venture - between Umicore and Volkswagen's battery unit PowerCo - also plan to collaborate on recycling metals from battery materials.

When it comes to copper, big miners and metals traders are warning that in just a couple of years’ time, a massive shortfall will emerge.

Aluminum traders had seen this movie before back in 2018, when US sanctions on Rusal's owner Oleg Deripaska caused massive upheaval along the entire length of the global supply chain.

Russian imports, which remain exempt from US sanctions, are flowing into the country unrestricted when allies like Australia continue to face restrictions.