CRU: US extends sanctions on Cuba’s metal-mining sector

This item was first published by CRU. To learn about CRU’s global commodities research and analysis services, visit www.crugroup.com.

Washington added long steel producer Antillana de Acero and state-owned mining company Geominera to its list of sanctioned companies in Cuba.

Antillana is the largest steel maker in Cuba. In 2023, the company unveiled its electric arc furnace (EAF). Its modernization and expansion progressed by way of support by Russian entities. Russia produced most of the equipment.

Reportedly, the crude steel production capacity totals 206,000 metric tons per year. However, the company mainly produces the billets used in rolling long steel products. Antillana the company goes by Empresa Siderurgica Jose Martin.

Geominera, a Cuban government entity, oversees foreign investment in the country’s non-nickel metallic mineral assets. The US specifically named Minera La Victoria, a 50:50 joint venture between Geominera and Antilles Gold of Australia which is working on copper, gold and polymetallic prospects in Cuba.

In addition, the latest US measures cover two companies, one dealing with logistics the other with financing, and linked to the already-sanctioned Gaesa.

“These entities and actors fund, facilitate or benefit from the [Cuban] regime’s malign activities, both in Cuba and across our hemisphere,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Washington argues the companies support Cuba’s security apparatus, those responsible for repression in Cuba, and other US national security threats.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez responded by saying, “The US government … continues to tighten the noose around Cuba’s economy.”

The US announced its latest sanctions days after Havana unveiled 176 economic reforms. Its reforms aim to expand private enterprise, attracting investment and reviving the Cuban economy. Cuba notoriously suffers prolonged blackouts, and shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

Rubio’s announcement coincided with the shutdown announcement by Sherritt International. The Canada-based nickel and cobalt producer said it commenced the closing procedures for its Fort Saskatchewan refinery in Alberta.

Sherrit International exhausted the feedstock inventories it held from the company’s 50:50 Moa joint venture with the Cuban government. Sherritt began drawing down inventories when it decided to suspend direct participation with the Moa operation. The company withdrew its participation in May when US President Donald Trump added economic sanctions.