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

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.In both Europe and the United States, the prices of most flat steel products have pushed to record highs in the weeks to Monday March 22. They remain slightly below their mid-2008 peaks in China, but are at multi-year highs there too.This illustrates in part the heavier consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for steelmakers in...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese seamless linepipe prices have jumped by $120 per tonne over the past month because of rising costs. With iron ore prices remaining elevated, scrap costs on the rise, and activity at steel mills curbed by environmental measures, steel billet has become difficult to source, bolstering the prices for seamless linep...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR?  Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...Read More

Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Demand for copper — already on a rising trend — is arguably set to explode as the energy transition takes hold. In order to prevent structural deficits, unsustainably high prices and demand destruction, miners will have to...Read More

RAPAPORT... Jewelers of America (JA) has announced the winners of its 31st annual CASE Awards for jewelry design, recognizing retail members whose pieces feature creativity, artistry, style and excellence.This year, JA expanded the prizes to include 14 different categories after a record number of entries, it said Tuesday. A panel of judges chose the honorees from nearly 200 applicants, evaluating...Read More

A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday April 7.Please click...Read More

RAPAPORT... Xcel Brands, which owns several apparel labels, has acquired Logo by Lori Goldstein, a lifestyle brand encompassing clothing and jewelry. Goldstein, an American stylist and designer, launched Logo in 2009. The brand has since clocked up retail sales of more than $1.5 billion, Xcel said Monday. The investment will help enhance the brand's product merchandising and design, acco...Read More

RAPAPORT... An Indigenous group in Canada is protesting plans by De Beers to build a new landfill at its Victor mine site, claiming the territory is of cultural significance.The Attawapiskat are opposed to the landfill, which would be used for mine-demolition waste during the closure and rehabilitation of the site, fearing it will devastate the James Bay wetlands area, the group said Tuesday. That...Read More

Europe's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Wednesday April 7 due to buyers' growing need to restock and limited sources of material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?894 ($1,057.80) per tonne on April 7, up by ?,?9 per tonne from ?,?885 per tonne on April 6.The index was up by ?,?58 per tonn...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.On Friday 15th February 2019, Vale announced there was a fire affecting a conveyor belt system at its distribution centre in Malaysia. Vale anticipate this will result in a 10 to 15 day halt in operations and note that a planned 10 da...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers brought in $440 million at its March rough sale, with the miner giving an optimistic outlook for the sector while cautioning about the pandemic's continued effects."Following a good holiday season and that trend continuing during the first quarter of 2021, we have again seen solid demand for rough diamonds as we begin a traditionally quieter period of the year for the dia...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Genscape is now part of Wood Mackenzie. As we combine their commodity intelligence and proprietary short-term data sets with Wood Mackenzie’s world-class long-term analysis, we will be able to offer you unparalleled depth and br...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers sales slowed at its March sight, down to $440m as pent-up demand appeared to flag.In January the UK-based miner sold $650m of rough - a three-year high - followed by $550m in February. It has reportedly been increasing prices at recent sights at the midstream restocks, while maintaining flexibilities introduced to help holders earlier in the pandemic.New supply contra...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has added an extra two years to its supply deal with HB Antwerp, enabling it to continue selling all its rough above 10.8 carats to the Belgium-based manufacturer."Lucara is beginning to see the benefits of this strategy in accessing a broader marketplace and delivering regular cash flow based on final polished sales," Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said Wednesday. "We bel...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A bride and groom used their smartphones to exchange virtual rings in a blockchain wedding.Peter Kacherginsky and Rebecca Rose authorized the Ethereum transactions at a traditional Jewish ceremony in San Francisco, California, USA.The couple, who both work for the cryptocurrency company Coinbase, swapped specially-designed NFTs (non-fungible tokens) named Tabaat - the Hebrew word f...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Rocksbox, the pioneering jewelry rental company, has been acquired by Signet, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry.Signet says the move should help it reach new customers - primarily young women - following the success of its three-year Path to Brilliance recovery program. Rocksbox, founded  by Meaghan Rose in 2012, provides subscribers with three rented p...Read More

Prices for lead scrap material within the domestic US market slid slightly this week because of a good supply of scrap combined with lead smelters and auto-battery manufacturers operating at near-maximum capacity, according to sources."[Lead] scrap is still in good supply, and we are able to buy what we need," one consumer said. "Lead demand is still strong, and we expect that to remain the case o...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price closed at its highest in a month on Wednesday April 7, while the rest of the base metals complex consolidated following a bullish pricing session on Tuesday. Lead's futures price, often the laggard on the LME, was the standout performer on Wednesday with a 1.3% rise to $1,993.50 per tonne at the 5pm close. This is its highest closing price since Mar...Read More