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 seaborne fob market moved up slightly for premium hard coking coal prices on Monday January 18 on firm demand and a limited number of cargoes on offer in the market, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $124.15 per tonne, up $0.24 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $208.69 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $101.54 per tonne, unchangedH...Read More
Iron ore prices increased on Monday January 18, supported by a news of a record-high GDP in China for 2020 and supply concerns after a fire at Vale's Ponta da Madeira terminal in northern Brazil.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.07 per tonne, up $0.38 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.66 per tonne, up $0.53 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade pr...Read More
The European spot ferro-silicon price, which widened up to ?,?1,300-1,200 per tonne on Friday January 15, should now be supported against any prompt demand from steelmakers that have agreed their first-quarter delivery settlements, sources said this week.They told Fastmarkets that the last time the price was this high was in November 2018. The market should also get support from suppliers kee...Read More
Mining at Vedanta Zinc International's South African zinc mine in Gamsberg has resumed after a two-month shutdown following a landfall at the project in November. Mining activity was stopped at Gamsberg on November 17 following the incident, which left 10 workers trapped in the landfall and one miner still missing. Vedanta, which acquired the Gamsberg mine in 2011 from Anglo American and operates...Read More
RAPAPORT... The two largest diamond miners increased prices at this week's rough sales as demand improved due to post-holiday restocking and strong trading ahead of the Chinese New Year.De Beers raised prices by an average of 4% to 5% at its first sight of 2021, while Alrosa's increases were around 6% to 7%, industry insiders told Rapaport News Monday. Both companies implemented steeper hikes...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill's sales slipped 2.8% in the first half of its fiscal year as a lockdown in Canada outweighed growth in the Australian market.Group revenue decreased to AUD 317.5 million ($243.6 million) during the six months ending December 27, as 21 of the company's 86 stores in Canada closed during the November-to-December period, the jeweler reported last week. A further 25 shops in th...Read More
RAPAPORT... Members of the US jewelry industry are happy overall with the level of racial justice and equality found across the trade, according to a diversity survey Jewelers of America (JA) and National Jeweler conducted.Nearly three-quarters of employers polled in the jewelry sector, and more than half of employees, reported their companies ranked very well when it came to these matters, JA sai...Read More
Treatment charges for spot market zinc concentrates were flat from one assessment to the next at low levels in the first half of January, with smelters and traders weighing seemingly limited short-term availability against expectations of a mined abundance later this year.Vedanta restarts mining at Gamsberg after fatal collapseTrevali to bring back Caribou after high price hedgesMiners offering bi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Divorcee Christine Bonavita is giving away her wedding and engagement rings, with a combined value of over $3,500, to a deserving couple who faced adversities last year."I have seen such kindness out there in my darkest hour, so I know what it's like to struggle," she said.Christine, 39, from Norfolk, Virginia, USA, married in 2010, divorced a year ago, and is a marking the an...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond and jewelry companies have raised the stakes when it comes to using online platforms to engage with clients and consumers. But what does it mean to be digitally relevant in today's ever-changing e-commerce and social-media space?In the first episode of Rapaport's podcast series, "Technology and the Diamond Trade," sponsored by Sarine Technologies, Rapaport Senior Analyst A...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Mothae mine in Lesotho has been closed for a second time by coronavirus.The country is in a 14-day lockdown as it suffers an unprecedented spike in infections.The deposit, jointly operated by Australian miner Lucapa and the Lesotho government, closed last March, largely as a precaution.The pandemic had barely touched the tiny landlocked nation at the time, but earlier this mont...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Signet enjoyed a 61 per cent surge in e-commerce over the holiday season.Total sales for the nine-week period in 2020 were $1.8bn, the same as the previous year, according to its preliminary trading update.The emphasis is shifting from bricks and mortar, with the closure of 355 stores in lower-traffic shopping malls and the expansion of online channels as an alternative.Signet, the...Read More
Britannia Global Markets' application to become a category 2 broking member of the London Metal Exchange has been approved by the exchange, its parent company said on Monday January 18.The admission will take place in the first week of February, according to Britannia Financial Group, which has several investment and banking arms including Britannia Global Markets.Britannia Global Markets was prev...Read More
A delivery of over 100,000 tonnes of aluminium into warehouses across the London Metal Exchange network should be supportive of wider contangos and higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets.A total of 112,400 tonnes was delivered into LME warehouses across Asia on January 18. The biggest delivery was in Gwangyang, South Korea where 62,500 tonnes were delivered in. This is the first-tim...Read More
Holman Head retired from his role as president and chief operating officer of O'Neal Industries (ONI) at the end of September. He recalls the substantial growth of the business during his 40-year career with the company and discusses likely future trends with Fastmarkets' Bette Kovach.In reflecting on his 40-year career with ONI of Birmingham, Alabama, Head thought about all the changes that metal...Read More
LME base metals prices had a mixed start on the morning of January 18, despite positive economic data coming out of China, with copper and nickel rising but zinc falling, capped by a high US Dollar Index. Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up by 0.5% to $7,990 per tonne on Monday at 9:30am, compared with Friday's 5pm closing price of $7,949 per tonne. Copper ...Read More
The base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mainly stronger this morning, Monday January 18, aided by some strong economic data in China, including gross domestic product (GDP) that showed growth of 6.5% year on year in the fourth quarter, which was stronger than the 6.2% expected and up from 4.9% in the third quarter. Metals prices firmer despite stronger US dollarBase metals Three-month ba...Read More
Steel tube and pipe producer Tenaris has signed a letter of intent to work with energy operator Edison and gas transmission network company Snam on trials of steelmaking with 'green' hydrogen at the Dalmine mill in Italy, the companies announced recently.The companies will collaborate to identify and implement the most suitable solutions for the production, distribution and use of green hydrogen a...Read More
European distributors of flat steel products have reported an 8.9% year-on-year rise in shipment volumes during November 2020, regional steel industry association Eurometal said on Monday January 18.Over the first 11 months of 2020, however, flat steel distributors' shipments dropped by 12.00% year-on-year.Eurometal did not disclose individual product volumes.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel...Read More
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe inched up day on day on Monday January 18 due to the reduced availability of material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?721.25 ($870.86) per tonne on Monday January 18, up by ?,?5.25 per tonne day on day from ?,?716.00 per tonne on Friday.The index was...Read More