Aluminum prices showed increased volatility on Monday: earlier in the session, quotes updated their maximum since April 2022, but then began to decline.
The price of aluminum futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 1.1% to $3,387 per ton by 16:07 GMT. During the session, quotes rose 2.8% to $3,544 for the first time since April 2022.
Over the past week, aluminum has risen in price by almost 10%, recording its highest growth in three years, amid fears of supply disruptions from the Middle East, which accounts for about 9% of global production of this metal. Two aluminum plants, in Qatar and Bahrain, were forced to suspend deliveries due to armed conflict in the region.
“A prolonged war will hurt aluminum supplies,” said Gao Yin, an analyst at Shuohe Asset Management Co. According to her, consumers are building up aluminum stocks in case of such an event.
For a more detailed overview of global aluminum production from 1970 to 2024, watch the video on the YouTube channel Experts Club.
Attacks on data centers in the Middle East may accelerate the revision of global standards for digital infrastructure protection and open up an opportunity for Ukraine to offer the world its own experience of cloud service resilience during wartime, according to Anton Khvastunov, co-founder and CBDO of GigaCloud. He wrote about this in a blog for the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
According to the author, after the strikes on data centers in the region, the requirements for their protection may approach the standards for the protection of military facilities. This could include non-disclosure of location, new security protocols, additional certification, and mandatory data redundancy between multiple sites so that a direct strike on one facility does not completely shut down services.
Khvastunov notes that this situation creates a window of opportunity for Ukraine, as Ukrainian providers have already gained practical experience in operating and protecting data in wartime conditions. He emphasizes that dependence on a single, even very large, infrastructure provider makes data vulnerable, and therefore the market will move towards interoperability and distributed storage of critical information.
The blog also states that in the spring of 2025, the largest players in the Ukrainian cloud market created the Ukrainian Digital Sovereignty Alliance. According to the author, as part of this initiative, participants are working on a model in which the stability of critical digital infrastructure is ensured not by one provider, but by several major market players simultaneously.
The author believes that the topic of digital sovereignty will become increasingly important in Europe and other regions, and attacks on data centers may make data protection one of the key areas of the new technology policy. The full text of the blog is published on the Interfax-Ukraine website.
Source: Anton Khvastunov’s blog “The war for data centers has begun. What does this mean for the world and Ukraine” on the Interfax-Ukraine website.
The third-largest Ukrainian mobile operator, LLC “lifecell” (TM lifecell), increased its daily active subscriber base by 250,000 over the past two months amid blackouts, said CEO of Datagroup-Volia-lifecell (DVL), Mykhailo Shelemba, in an interview with Forbes Ukraine.
According to him, the total number of subscribers, taking into account the three-month active base, is slightly more than 9 million. This trend is observed due to the fact that a significant number of subscribers on the market have two SIM cards.
“With the start of blackouts, they begin to actively use the second one, but they are included in the three-month base in the next reporting period. The situation is volatile,” said the CEO of DVL.
He specified that the number of MNP subscribers who transferred their numbers to lifecell in January and February 2026 was about 120,000, including almost 20,000 on February 14-15.
“Throughout the history of the MNP service, more than 70% … transfer it to lifecell. Today, we have 927,000 subscribers who have transferred to lifecell in almost seven years of service. Of these, about 400,000 came in a year and a half after the deal (when French NJJ Xavier Niel bought lifecell from Turkish Turkcell). The dynamics are positive,” Shelemba noted.
According to him, based on relative estimates, lifecell has seen the best results in terms of number portability in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Rivne, Poltava, and Volyn.
Commenting on the 18.7% increase in revenue in 2025 to UAH 15.9 billion, the CEO of DVL noted that it is important for lifecell to grow faster than its competitors in terms of both the number of subscribers and revenue.
Shelemba explained the increase in the subscriber base by the fact that the company invested $20 million in the purchase and installation of batteries at base stations, as well as implemented a complex system for calibrating the operation of various technologies: 2G, 3G, 4G, in order to provide mobile Internet services during blackouts longer than its competitors, as traffic increased by 28% year-on-year.
According to him, the company also conducted tests using SES at base stations. At the same time, according to the operator’s estimates, the payback period will be longer than for other investments in the core business, which will not solve the problem of blackouts.
“We decided to spend this money on batteries, generators, and team equipment. We believe that subscribers will appreciate this focus more,” explained the CEO of DVL.
He also said that since the beginning of 2025, the DVL group has invested about $2 million in converting the network to PON, which has allowed 2,700 homes to be connected. According to him, the goal is to achieve critical mass coverage in cities: in Vinnytsia, for example, 80% coverage has already been achieved, but the transition to PON is actively underway in Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.
“We are not building the network in pieces, we are covering at least microdistricts at once. The larger the city, the more difficult it is to do this quickly. The indicator in Kyiv is about 30%,” Shelemba added.
In an interview, he also advocated holding an auction for frequencies in the 700 MHz band for the deployment of 5G only when the state finds another 10 MHz of the band for the third operator, because now there are only 20 MHz, although 10 MHz can be found in the military.
“This process usually takes about a year. If they do it by the end of the year, it will be a record,” Shelemba said.
Ferrexpo plc, a mining company with its main assets in Ukraine, has announced the resumption of pellet production at Poltava Mining and Processing Plant (PGZK, Gorishni Plavni, Poltava region) after a temporary suspension of operations on January 20 due to a power outage caused by shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“Following the temporary suspension of operations announced on January 20, 2026, improvements in the availability and prices of domestic and imported electricity have enabled the resumption of production at PGZK. Currently, one pellet production line is in operation. The group uses its own fleet of railcars to export products to customers in Eastern and Central Europe,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
Commenting on the resumption of production, interim CEO Lucio Genovese noted that with the onset of spring, the group was able to resume operations, produce and export high-quality iron ore products.
“Following the intense attacks on Ukraine’s power generation and transmission infrastructure, we are grateful for the hard work across the country that has enabled the rapid completion of repairs. I am also grateful to my colleagues who have worked tirelessly to restore one of the pelletizing lines. This once again demonstrates our ability to be flexible and agile in very challenging conditions,” said the CEO.
In addition, Ferrexpo plc also provided updated corporate information regarding its Swiss subsidiary Ferrexpo AG (FAG).
According to this information, in the course of its normal business, FAG has a number of banking relationships, including with MBaer Merchant Bank AG (MBaer), which recently had its license revoked and was ordered into liquidation by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
It is specified that MBaer was used by the group to make commercial payments outside Ukraine. FAG has approximately $3 million in MBaer, and this amount is part of the group’s net cash resources of approximately $30 million as of February 27, 2026. According to a public statement by MBaer’s liquidators, sufficient assets are available to fully satisfy all customers and creditors, so FAG currently expects a full return of its deposit in MBaer, although the timing of when this will be possible is currently unknown.
However, it is noted that the revocation of MBaer’s license does not affect FAG’s or the group’s relationship with its other banking partners and is not expected to have a material impact on the group’s operating subsidiaries in Ukraine. Despite the liquidation of MBaer, the company has made certain payments outside Ukraine, although its ability to do so is limited.
“Management is actively exploring alternative banking options so that FAG can continue to make commercial payments on behalf of the group, but these negotiations are complicated and have historically been complicated by issues related to one of the beneficiaries of The Minco Trust, which owns Fevamotinico S.a.r.l. If the group is unable to arrange alternative banking arrangements outside Ukraine, there is a risk of significant negative consequences for it,” the statement concludes.
As reported, Ferrexpo suspended production and sent some of its employees on leave due to a power supply failure at its enterprises as a result of shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on January 20.
Ferrexpo owns 100% of Yeryistovsky GZK LLC, 99.9% of Bilanovsky GZK LLC, and 100% of Poltavsky GZK PJSC.
The protracted conflict in the Middle East could worsen market sentiment, increase inflationary pressures, and slow economic growth, said International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, speaking at a symposium organized by the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
According to her, in the new global environment, authorities should “think about the unthinkable and prepare for it.” Georgieva noted that the global economy is once again being tested for resilience due to the new conflict in the region.
According to the IMF chief, if oil prices remain 10% higher for most of the year, this could add about 0.4 percentage points to global inflation.
Against this backdrop, oil prices rose more than 25% on Monday, reaching their highest level since mid-2022. Rising energy prices are fueling fears of a new round of inflation and a slowdown in global economic activity, as well as complicating the scope for further monetary policy easing by leading central banks.
By the end of the week, the price of diesel fuel at filling stations may rise to 80 UAH/liter from the current 70-74 UAH/liter, and there are prerequisites for further growth to 90 UAH/liter, while gasoline will rise slightly in price, according to Sergey Kuyun, director of the consulting company A-95.
“Over the weekend, diesel fuel began to arrive at the price that had formed during the week – 70 UAH/liter. It is already in Ukraine, at 72 UAH/liter wholesale and 73 UAH/liter at stations. The price will definitely tend toward 80 UAH/liter by the end of the week, and then we will see. Morning price quotes (in Europe – EUR) are equivalent to 80 UAH/liter. Plus the station’s markup, plus transportation. That is, it may rise to somewhere around 90 UAH/liter,” Kuyun said at a briefing at the Media Center of Ukraine in Kyiv on Monday.
At the same time, he noted that he does not believe in a diesel fuel price of 100 UAH/liter.
“Everyone likes round numbers. And is 90 UAH/liter not enough? … I honestly don’t believe in 100 UAH/liter myself. For the simple reason that the global economy cannot sustain such prices. All forces will be mobilized to extinguish this,“ said the director of A-95.
At the same time, he noted that demand for fuel has begun to decline. (Last week, Kuyun reported its growth amid a 1.5-fold increase in prices – ER.)
”Among the good news: networks say that demand has declined. The hype drove up the price. This happened not only in Ukraine. There was a grab-and-go reflex, but, as I understand it, everyone who could has already filled up, and the market has calmed down,“ the expert noted.
He also stressed that the rise in gasoline prices has slowed down.
”There is a slowdown in gasoline. If there is a correction, it will be minor. More or less, gasoline prices may stabilize at around 70 UAH/liter,” Kuyun believes.
He explained that the European gasoline market, unlike the diesel market, has a surplus, so there are no preconditions for such sharp price jumps.
As for forecasts, he said that the end of the war in Iran, regardless of the outcome, will lead to lower oil prices.
“I think that no matter how the war in Iran ends, the result will be the same – oil prices will fall because the reason for the price increase will disappear. And the situation will quickly return to normal… Maybe even below $60 per barrel when Iran resumes production,” Kuyun said.
At the same time, he noted that traders are now very cautious about contracting fuel supplies amid a possible decline in prices if the war in Iran ends.
“If the price falls, there will be a review of tactics. Many traders are very cautious about contracting and purchasing because they are listening to the news and statements by Trump, who promises to end everything soon. If the price collapses, for example, to $800/ton, what will happen to the fuel purchased at $1,300/ton?” Kuyun described the situation.
At the same time, he emphasized that the number one issue is not the price of fuel, especially diesel, but its physical volumes in Europe.
“After Hungary, diesel supplies from Poland have been suspended for a week, as Poland has taken a break. Romania and Moldova have closed their exports. There is also a pause in other directions. And here the government needs to talk to its partners. Everyone has closed down out of fear… But nothing special is happening – oil is flowing, factories are working,” said the director of A-95.
At the same time, Kuyun emphasized that the rise in oil prices has a very positive effect on the Russian economy, which “in January-February traded at zero for many fields, and at a loss for depleted ones.”
As reported earlier on Monday, Kuyun, director of the consulting company A-95, noted that it is only possible to restrain retail fuel prices, in particular for diesel, amid a sharp surge in oil and petroleum product prices on world markets by reducing VAT. According to him, in 2022, VAT was reduced from 20% to 7%, and today a similar step would dampen prices by UAH 10/liter.
Over the weekend, the price of oil rose to $117 per barrel (+24%) and diesel fuel (DF) to $1,367 (+18%) per ton on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.
