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MOSCOW, April 16 (Reuters) - U.S. and British sanctions

imposed on Russian nickel, copper and aluminium will further

increase price volatility and supply uncertainty, Russian

metals-producing giant Norilsk Nickel said on Tuesday.

In their latest round of Ukraine-related sanctions,

Washington and London on Friday prohibited metal-trading

exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel

produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals into the

United States and Britain in order to disrupt Russian export

revenue.

The Kremlin on Monday said it considered the sanctions

illegal and called them a double-edged sword that would hurt the

interests of those imposing them.

"Nornickel regrets this decision as it will further increase

price volatility, supply uncertainty and lead to higher

premiums, all of which will negatively affect consumers of these

metals across the globe", Nornickel said in a statement.

It said the risk of market disruptions would rise, as

liquidity would deteriorate and the cost of financing of

critical industrial supply chains would increase.

Russia is a major metals producer. Its share in global

production is more than 5% of aluminium, 6% of refined nickel

and 4% of copper. U.S. and UK officials hope the latest

sanctions will widen the discount for Russian metal not traded

on exchanges.

Nornickel intends to remain a "reliable supplier of

products" and will continue to fulfil all its contractual

obligations, said the company, which is a major supplier of

copper and high-grade nickel. It is also the world's largest

producer of palladium.

Russian aluminium producer Rusal ,

the world's largest aluminium producer outside China, said on

Monday the new sanctions would have no impact on its ability to

supply aluminium to world markets.

But Vedomosti newspaper on Tuesday quoted sources as saying

that Rusal had asked the authorities for state support for the

non-ferrous metals industry and reported risks to its production

from the new sanctions.

Some analysts did not expect an immediate supply shock

as Nornickel and Rusal sell most of their metals under

bilateral contracts and can continue to sell to other non-U.S.

or UK markets.

Since February 2022, Nornickel and Rusal have shifted their

focus to Asia, whose share in their revenues last year exceeded

50% and 38% respectively. The two companies are not subject to

direct Western sanctions but some Western companies are avoiding

dealings with them in what Moscow calls "voluntary

self-sanctions".