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
Former BHP Billiton director John Crofts has joined Ocean Partners in Australia to help develop new opportunities in the base and precious metals concentrate market, Fastmarkets learned on Wednesday January 23.Crofts, who will be based in Melbourne, will focus on the regions of Australia and Southeast Asia.He worked at BHP Billiton for 23 years until June 2010, when he joined copper and gold...Read More
Quebec-based diamond miner Stornoway Diamonds has appointed Hubert Lacroix and Angelina Mehta to its board of directors.Lacroix has more than 30 years of experience in business and law and has expertise in corporate governance. He served as president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada from January 2008 to June 2018, as special counsel at Stikeman Elliott from 2005 to 2008, and as executive chairperson at...Read More
Flat steel sales volumes from Brazilian distributors dropped by 17.3% year on year in December 2018, due to lower international prices and a number of holiday absences during the month.Brazilian flat steel domestic shipments amounted to 188,600 tonnes, compared with 228,200 tonnes in December 2017, according to figures released by national flat steel association Inda on Tuesday January 22.Clients...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe stayed flat on Wednesday January 23, after the previous week's price reductions failed to spark an increase in activity.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe stayed at $530-550 ($602-625) per tonne delivered on Wednesday. The contract dipped from $540-560 per tonne a week ago.Few deals were repor...Read More
European prices for mesh-quality wire rod stayed flat across the continent on Wednesday January 23, with buyers still unwilling to commit to purchases while they see the potential for lower prices in future after the implementation of the European Commission's new import quotas.Fastmarkets MB's weekly domestic price assessment for mesh-quality wire rod in Northern Europe stayed at ?,?530-550 ($602...Read More
Domestic prices for steel beams in Europe were unchanged on Wednesday January 23 with market conditions remaining stable this week, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe was ?,?620-640 ($704-727) per tonne delivered on January 23, flat week on week.Last week, prices came down by ?,?5 per tonne, an...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe remained stable on Wednesday January 23, with the market staying quiet even after prices dipped last week.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe stayed at ?,?510-530 ($579-602) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, with few deals reported over the past week. Offers have drifted lower - the market has....Read More
PolarX builds bigger, richer Zackly pictureSPONSOREDpolar x limitedElement 25 targeting clean entry into high-growth marketSPONSOREDelement 25It produced a record 220,000 tonnes of copper in the December quarter, up 24% year-on-year, bringing the full-year total to 725,300t, a 3% increase from 2017 and at the top end of its revised guidanceRead More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange had dipped in recent days on the back of global growth concerns and after follow-through buying from last week waned, but the complex is broadly up again with average gains of 0.3% this morning, Wednesday January 23. Tin, that has been a star performer this year, was bucking the trend with a 0.3% dip to $20,390 per tonne. The rest we...Read More
Deep-sea scrap import prices into Turkey remained firm on Wednesday January 23, with suppliers trying to raise their offers to mills which are trying to replenish their depleted stocks, sources told Fastmarkets.A deep-sea cargo from late last week came to light on Wednesday, indicating a minimum price of $290 per tonne cfr for United States-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20).A steel mill in the Iskenderun reg...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell further on Wednesday January 23 with offers continuing to outnumber bids.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $74.48 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.30 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $75.32 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.30 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $75.84 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.06 per tonne.MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $65.94 per...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Global Ore, 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend fines, traded at the March average of the Fastmarkets MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina at a premium of $2.05 per tonne, laycan February...Read More
The company has continued to build on its solid reputation, working for emerging miners to contractors and industry majors, with a past and present client list including Barrick Gold, Goldfields and Rio Tinto.Among the company's success stories are a 19% productivity improvement on all excavators at an Indonesian coal mine, a 23% increase in development rates at an Australian underground coal mine...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar slipped 0.07 to 75.04 cents U.S. following release of Canadian November Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was a decrease of 0.6%. Actual was a drop of 0.9%. IBM gained $9.53 to $132.05 after reporting higher than consensus fourth quarter sales and earnings. Tesla...Read More
Higher bids amid improved sentiment among seaborne coking coal market participants culminated in higher spot prices on Wednesday January 23.A February-laycan cargo of a top Australian brand was sold at $198.50 per tonne cfr China to a northern Chinese end user, various sources said.A cargo of branded materials, scheduled for loading in March, also changed hands at $197 per tonne fob Australia on t...Read More
Byerwen mine in Queensland, Australia successfully delivered the first shipment of hard coking-coal to JFE Steel's West Japan Works this month, the steel mill said on Wednesday January 23."Together with QCoal, JFE Steel will work to develop the mine and provide a stable, long-term supply of coking coal, which is expected to help reduce volatility in the coking coal market," JFE Steel said.The stee...Read More
Demand for ferrous scrap from end users in Asia remained strong this week, with major steelmakers looking to purchase more of the raw material in the face of strengthening prices in the key market of Turkey.In South Korea, a major mill is seeking Japanese H2 scrap, heavy melting scrap (HMS) 1&2 (50:50), shredded scrap as well as plate and structural (P&S) scrap this week.It submitted bids of ?28,...Read More
The coking coal and coke contracts led the uptrend in the Chinese ferrous futures market during the morning trading session on Wednesday January 23.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,638 yuan ($534) per tonne, up 1 yuan per tonneMay hot-rolled coil: 3,560 yuan per tonne, up 5 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 528 yuan per tonne, up 0...Read More
The Comex copper price failed to rebound on Wednesday January 23 with technical selling continuing to weigh on the red metal. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.05 cents to $2.6590 per lb. Persistent worries over the unresolved trade war between the United States and China are keeping...Read More
Privately-owned Sigma Broking Ltd has approached members of the London Metal Exchange to acquire B shares as it moves forward with a plan to become the first new Category I ring-trading entity since 2007, well-informed sources told Fastmarkets. "There have been conversations between Sigma and LME members - it is well known who is long B shares and happy to sell them," one source close to the matte...Read More