OJSC Electrozinc, the second-largest industrial metallurgy enterprise in Russia, has permanently ceased operations at its plant in North Ossetia, Fastmarkets has heard.The unit, which had been under close scrutiny from regional authorities, had already suspended operations following a fire on October 21 last year that killed one person and injured three more."The company has decided to terminate E...Read More
The London Metal Exchange could face a significant financial challenge if the EU wins a legal battle with the British government over tax breaks on commodity derivatives trading.The European Commission has referred the UK to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over concessions offered by the EU to the UK in 1977, which allowed the UK to apply a zero-rate of VAT to transactions on specific commodit...Read More
A 118-day queue for aluminium has developed at warehouses in Port Klang operated by Istim, following a series of cancelations on the London Metal Exchange last month, according to LME data released on Monday February 11.Between January 22 and 25, almost 300,000 tonnes of aluminium was canceled at warehouses in Port Klang, causing the extended wait for deliveries.At the end of December, there was j...Read More
The price of copper in the United States began the week trading in negative territory, with a strong dollar and a lack of news about the US-China trade talks weighing on the base metals complex.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined by 1.10 cents per lb to $2.79 per lb.Chinese market participants have returned from their week-long L...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower during morning trading on Monday February 11, with nickel the only metal to trade in positive territory, while continued strength in the dollar index fuels selling momentum. Chinese market participants have returned from their week-long Lunar New Year break. Yet despite a return of Chinese stimulus resulting in higher volumes...Read More
RAPAPORT... Switzerland's G? 1/4 belin Gem Lab has launched a blockchain forcolored gemstones, which, it claims, will enable source verification throughoutthe entire supply chain. The digital ledger is now open to industry members wishingto place their gemstones on the platform, the Lucerne-based institute saidafter unveiling it at the AGTA GemFair Tucson show last week. The blockchain will recor...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday February 11*Copper -$165.93 (-1,126.09 yuan) Aluminium -$370.65 (-2,515.41 yuan) Zinc -$111.17 (-754.45 yuan) Nickel -$61.61 (-418.12 yuan) *Fastmarkets MB calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
RAPAPORT... Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) expects a 46% jumpin its rough-diamond production in 2019. The nation's rough-diamond output will reach 4.1 millioncarats this year, up from 2.8 million last year, the miner told RapaportNews last week. In 2017, the company produced 1.8 million carats. Prices ofrough should also increase as the state-owned miner implements a new diamond...Read More
RAPAPORT... The lab-grown-diamond sector is enjoying a spike in awareness among US consumers and is starting to make headway into the engagement-ring market, according to a report commissioned by the International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA) and carried out by MVI Marketing. "Over the last two years, the anecdotal feedback from IGDA members has been that the bridal category is where they...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US saw a 4% decline in polished-diamond imports inNovember, according to data from the US Census Bureau. The average price fell9%, outweighing a 5% increase in volume. Trade figures were still positive forthe January-to-November period, with a 7% jump in total import value,reflecting a similar rise in the price per carat.US Diamond Trade Data for November 2018 Millions unles...Read More
Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has raised £575 000 before expenses through the issue of 191.67-million shares at a price of 0.3p a share. The funds will be used to continue the development of the Kareevlei mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa.AdvertisementThe recent recovery of large, high-quality gem diamonds has encouraged the company to look at ways to fast-track its productio...Read More
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has put his weight behind calls for a reduction of the trade tariffs affecting his country's steel and aluminium exports to the United States.US President Donald Trump doubled the tariffs applied to steel and aluminium imported from Turkey in August 2018. At the time, relations between the two countries were poor because of Turkey's detention of US evangelica...Read More
The 25th Investing in African Mining Indaba took place this week. Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer attended the indaba and unpacks the highlights.AdvertisementRead More
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia increased again over the past week on expectations of higher prices, although the market was quiet amid the week-long Lunar New Year trading lull.Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia was $445-460 per tonne cfr on Monday February 11, up $15 per tonne from a week earlier.There were no boo...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters are planning to offer much higher prices after a surge in the domestic market on Monday February 11 following global price gains in iron ore during the Lunar New Year festival break, market participants told Fastmarkets MB.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,870-3,890 yuan ($574-577) per tonne, up 90 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,800-3,810 yu...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transactions: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic, commercial-grade...Read More
Import prices for re-rolling-grade hot-rolled coil into Vietnam are expected to continue on an upward trend from this week onwards amid surging iron ore prices, which market participants expect to continue boosting downstream carbon steel prices.The MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index was at $85.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao on Friday February 8, up from $74.69 per tonne cfr Qingdao on Friday January 25, while th...Read More
Alderan unlocking Frisco potentialSPONSOREDalderan resourcesIts Ministro Hales, Gabriela Mistral and Radomiro Tomic divisions were also back to normal, and it starting to repair the public road linking Calama with Chuquicamata, Codelco said yesterday."Thanks to the measures adopted and the existing protocols, during the emergency no injured workers have been registered," the company said.Alderan u...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have continued to increase in line with the rise in the costs of imported deep-sea scrap and domestic finished steel, sources said on Monday February 11.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle (DKP-grade) scrap in Turkey was TRY1,660-1,810 ($316-344) per tonne delivered on February 11, rising from TRY1,595-1,690 per tonne last week.The steel mill...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices surged across the board on Monday February 11 when trading resumed in China after a week-long public holiday. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $90.58 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $5.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $91.42 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $5.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $92.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $5.18 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Prem...Read More