Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More

The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More

Junior gold developer Bluestone Resources is changing tack as it looks to bring its Cerro Blanco project in Guatemala into production through an open pit development scenario which promises to deliver higher returns and more benefits to local stakeholders.The company recently released a "game changer" preliminary economic assessment for a compact open pit mine which doubled the Cerro Blanco gold r...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 9 points in pre-opening traded.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the February Producer Price Index at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was a gain of 0.5% versus an increase of 1.3% in January. Actual was an increase of 0.5%. Excluding food and energy, consensus was an increase of 0.2% versus a gain of...Read More

Vale has started commissioning wet processing operations at its Timbopeba site, which is part of its Mariana iron ore complex in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state, which will increase the mine's iron ore production capacity by 7 million tonnes per year.The commissioning process is expected to last for two months, and will  increase production capacity to 12 million...Read More

Increasing scrap flows and bearish appetites led to softer prices in the majority of international steel scrap markets in the week to Friday March 12.While the markets in the United States, China and India appeared to be static over the period, a flurry of buying activity in Vietnam was intended to capitalize on lower Japanese scrap prices, while Taiwanese traders made hasty sales in a bid to avoi...Read More

Trading activity in the pig iron import market in the United States slowed down during the week to Friday March 12 because buyers have restocked, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $570 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.The latest deal in the US for low-phosphorus pig...Read More

The price of austenitic steel scrap in the UK and Europe fell further in the past seven days following the sharp drop in the nickel market last week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?1,050-1,120 ($1,465-1,563) per tonne on Friday, down by ?30-50 per tonne week on week fro...Read More

Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan moved down in the week to Friday March 12 following a correction in the international scrap market, sources have told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $450.83 per tonne on Friday, down from $460.86 per tonne one week previously.A deal was heard at $450 per to...Read More

Is the world on the brink of a fourth wave of increasing coronavirus infections and deaths?Based on the latest data, that's a possibility that cannot be ruled out right now. Here's why…After the virus broke out in Wuhan, China, it spread rapidly to Milan, Italy, where a new strain called the Italian Strain became much more contagious. The Italian Strain spread through Europe and then to New...Read More

The United Kingdom light iron steel scrap market was stable in the week to Friday March 12, consolidating a three-week run of price increases amid tight domestic supply and regular export business into traditional deep-sea destinations, sources told Fastmarkets.The UK light iron market has climbed about 25% from one month ago to its highest level since May 2012, when prices were ?160-170 per tonn...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell sharply on Friday March 12 as a result of panic sales, especially in the Baltic Sea region, market sources said.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a 30,000-tonne cargo from the Baltic Sea region, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $437 per tonne and bonus at $447 per tonne cfr. The cargo breakdown was no clear at the time of the publication.A steel mill...Read More

Clients and ultimately the metals market will suffer if the London Metal Exchange's proposals to change its margin methodology go ahead, the heads of a number of brokers and trade users have said.Speaking during a panel discussion at the virtual Fastmarkets Copper Seminar, executives noted that the provision of credit, granted by brokers to clients, was at the heart of the LME's franchise. But cha...Read More

If the proposed changes to the London Metal Exchange's margin methodology go ahead, it would be a "disaster" for the provision of credit to clients by its brokers, according to the acting managing director for Minmetals (UK).Liangmin Gu said that a change would have a "huge" effect on the metals trading company, and would increase costs and reduce the LME's competitiveness against its peers in the...Read More

The London Metal Exchange expects participation in trading its contracts to rise if it pushes ahead with incentivizing its electronic platform, based on conversations it has had.But its chief executive officer declined to specify by how much the exchange expects its volumes to increase, nor who the participants are, it added.Addressing the issue during a panel discussion at the virtual Fastmarkets...Read More

Iron ore prices went down on Friday March 12 due to the weak demand amid strong supervision on steel production operations in Tangshan, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $165.44 per tonne,down $5.26 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $165.53 per tonne,down $5.26 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $152.27 per tonne,down...Read More

An overview of the aerospace materials markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey and Michael Greenfield in...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in London on Friday March 12.Key drivers Offers revised down after Thursday's price fall, but buyers were still accepting prices above the previous range for briquettes and broken cathodes. Sellers competing...Read More

An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More

The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt...Read More

The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More

The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt hydroxide p...Read More