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
Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) has resumed operations on the No2 blast furnace at its Usina Presidente Vargas (UPV) unit in Brazil's southeastern Volta Redonda city, the steelmaker said on Thursday November 19.The Brazilian steelmaker decided to idle the equipment - which has capacity to produce 1.50 million tonnes per year of crude steel - in May, when demand for steel hit...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have shot above $37 per hundredweight ($740 per short ton) for the first time in nearly two years on a supply-chain squeeze potentially made worse by rising Covid-19 infections, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $37.25 per cwt ($745 per ton) on Thursday November 19, up by 1.7% from...Read More
Domestic European prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil increased over the week to Wednesday November 18, due to a combination of low availability, solid demand and a lack of imports, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HDG, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?630-645 ($748-765) per tonne ex-works on Wednesday, up by ?,?15-20 per tonne from ?,?610-63...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 19 that are worth another look.Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already...Read More
Kyle Morris has been appointed marketing manager at Kalahari Trading, the exclusive marketing agent of South African manganese ore producer United Manganese of the Kalahari (UMK).Morris started at Kalahari Trading on Monday November 16,...Read More
Commodity traders have long forecast that there would be consolidation in their own industry, and in some of the world's biggest centers for metals business that has already started to happen.Independent metals trading companies operating out of Shanghai and Singapore - many of which launched during the early 2000s, surfing the commodities "supercycle" to bountiful profits - have seen risks to bus...Read More
The world's largest trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), could result in India losing its share of the Asian steel market, sources told Fastmarkets this week."It is likely that steel mills in Southeast Asia will benefit from the RCEP trade deal, and India will lose market share in Asia," a Chinese trader told Fastmarkets.The RCEP was signed by China, the 10 member co...Read More
Chinese prices for nickel pig iron (NPI) fell for the first time since early July despite continued strength in the upstream nickel ore market, raising questions over whether the latter is still sufficient to prop up NPI prices in China.Activity in China's NPI market has been muted since early October, with the lack of spot trading resulting in liquidity issues for some participants, in turn causi...Read More
Lead showed the biggest increase in its three-month price at the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday November 19, while prices for the rest of the base metals complex fluctuated after a flat morning trading session.The three-month price for lead was up by 1.54% on Thursday at 5pm, trading at $1,978.50 per tonne and up from Wednesday's closing price of $1,948.50 per tonne.This w...Read More
Lithium needs a transparent market where demand and supply meet to foster the growth of the sector, attendees heard during the annual Lithium in the South America conference organised by Panorama Minero on Wednesday November 18.The event that normally takes place in Buenos Aires was hosted virtually this year due to Covid-19 related restrictions. Interest around bringing price transparency to the...Read More
Iron ore futures price reached the yearly high on the Dalian Commodity Exchange on Thursday November 19 and physical prices also increased, sources told Fastmarkets, with the decrease in steel inventory supporting, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $127.89 per tonne, up $1.55 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $128.36 per tonne, up $1.78 per tonne58...Read More
Rising expectations for holiday season despite surge in Covid-19. US retail sales +5.7% in Oct. Digital driving growth in US and China: Walmart 3Q e-commerce +79% and Alibaba's 11/11 Singles' Day sales +26% to record $74B. Polished trading slow as Indian suppliers take Diwali vacation. Jewelers making final holiday orders. Steady demand for 1 to 2 ct., G-H, VS-SI goods in bridal category. Positive...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports saw their ninth consecutive monthly decline as US orders slipped and a fresh wave of European lockdowns cast a cloud over demand in the region.Global shipments fell 7% to CHF 1.88 billion ($2.07 billion) in October, the gentlest fall since February, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported Thursday. Exports to the US fell 5% to CHF 215.9 million ($23...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of personal luxury goods will fall 23% this year, the first decrease since 2009, and are unlikely to recover for at least two years, Bain & Company predicted.Total sales for the category will drop to EUR 217 billion ($257.47 billion) in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic shut stores around the world, Bain forecast Wednesday in its global luxury report. That represents the steep...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based jeweler Tse Sui Luen (TSL) fell into the red in its first fiscal half as the coronavirus and tensions between the US and China battered its business across the region.The retailer recorded a loss of HKD 41.6 million ($5.4 million) for the six months ending September 30, compared with a profit of HKD 1.5 million ($197,360) in the same period of 2019, it reported Wed...Read More
Lead showed the biggest increase in its three-month price at the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday November 19, while prices for the rest of the base metals complex fluctuated after a flat morning trading session.The three-month price for lead was up by 1.54% on Thursday at 5pm, trading at $1,978.50 per tonne and up from Wednesday's closing price of $1,948.50 per tonne.This w...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Exports of Swiss watches are suffering their sharpest decline since World War Two.They fell by just over a quarter - 25.8 per cent - in the first 10 months of 2020, according to new figures released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.But the rate of decline slowed in October to 7.1 per cent, the lowest figure this year. Total sales of wrist watches and other products las...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa says demand remains strong for high-quality rough, after selling over $24m worth of large stones in Israel and Dubai earlier this month.The Russian state-owned miner also conducted sales of fancy colored rough in Israel and Belgium. It said it sold 64 per cent of 130 lots weighting 8,200 carats but did not disclose further details.Alrosa's sales of special size (over 10...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Fashion model Indira Scott is fronting a De Beers' campaign highlighting sustainability in the diamond sector.Five leading US designers - Jade Trau, Jennie Kwon, Julez Bryant, Sara Weinstock and Zoe Chicco - each produced a pendant featuring rough diamonds from Botswana, inspired by the country's people, wildlife and landscape after a visit last year.Their pieces, p...Read More
Turkish domestic, export and import prices for steel billet have all gone up over the past week on increasing scrap costs and strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 19.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) raised their billet offers to Turkish customers by around $30-45 per tonne to $465-480 per tonne cfr, with one deal being made around $460 per tonne cfr...Read More