Media coverage of the diamond industry in 2018 has been dominated by the inroads made in terms of laboratory-created diamond production and distribution, as well as their pricing dynamics, independent diamond expert Paul Zimnisky observed in a statement on his website, published last month. He commented that several new players had entered the synthetic-diamond space, and that improved production...Read More
PolarX builds bigger, richer Zackly pictureSPONSOREDpolar x limitedThe deal, which was announced in June, would have seen the Melbourne-based private equity firm pay US$230 million for the mine, plus around $40 million through the sale of copper stockpiled at the operation, and up to $50 million in the future depending on the copper price.The acquisition was set to close before the end of December...Read More
The Angolan government in early December approved the new regulations concerning the commercialisation of diamonds, the Macauhub news agency has reported.The country’s Council of Ministers (Cabinet) approved the regulations on December 5. The official title of the new set of rules is the Technical Regulation of the Commercialisation of Rough Diamonds.AdvertisementStrategic ObjectivesThe new...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Sustained investment in people a big plus for consultancySPONSOREDbyrnecutMahenge the Cinderella of the graphite space?SPONSOREDblack rock miningSky is the limit for BSK at Amarillo GrandeSPONSOREDblue sky uraniumNew Energy brings experience to new dawnSPONSOREDnew energy mineralsIn an open letter to Hudbay shareholders on Thursday, Waterton chief investment officer Isser Elishis lamented Hudbay's...Read More
Comex copper prices weakened in morning trading on Friday December 14 after a release of softer Chinese industrial data, placing stress on the base metals complex.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped by 1.85 cents to $2.7485 per lb.Analysts said weaker Chinese economic data was pressuring the base metals complex as a whole this...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Friday December 14.The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange shrugged off a net inflow of 57,525 tonnes today, mostly into warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia.Aluminium traded at $1,923.50 on Friday morning down 0.4% from Thursday night's close. Friday's deliveries into Port Klang LME sheds foll...Read More
The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange shrugged off a net inflow of 57,525 tonnes on Friday December 14, mostly into warehouses in Port Klang.Aluminium traded at $1,923.50 on Friday morning down 0.4% from Thursday night's close. Friday's deliveries into Port Klang LME sheds follows a 24,875 tonne delivery on Thursday and 23,925 tonnes oin Monday, both to the same area.Th...Read More
Base metals stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower week on week on Friday December 14, with aluminium stocks declining for the ninth consecutive week to hit a year-to-date low. Deliverable aluminium stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses dropped by 24,442 tonnes, or 3.4%, week on week to 688,825 tonnes as on Friday December 14. SHFE aluminium stocks have fallen by 30.6% from their...Read More
The Indian domestic steel billet price fell by 600 rupees ($8) per tonne in the week to Friday December 14, but demand remained weak despite major price cuts in long and semi-finished products.The price for Indian domestic billet stood at 31,000-31,200 rupees ($434-436) per tonne ex-mill on December 14, a drop of 600 rupees week on week from 31,600-31,800 rupees per tonne on December 7, accor...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil narrowed downward this week amid lower prices of finished steel in the United States.Fastmarkets MB's weekly assessment of Brazil's slab export prices was $430-475 per tonne fob on Friday December 14, down from $430-485 per tonne fob a week before.In the US market, companies were heard...Read More
Billet prices have fallen in most regions due to low demand in Southeast Asia, Turkey and North Africa, but a slight recovery was seen in Chinese prices.CIS, Turkey, EgyptIn the Commonwealth of Independent States, prices continued to fall this past week despite efforts from local mills to hold back the decline.Cargoes of Russian billet were sold in Thailand and Indonesia at $465 per tonne cfr earl...Read More
Cold-rolled coil and coated steel prices in the United States fell further after holding steady for one week, driven by weakness in hot-rolled coil and soft demand. Fastmarkets AMM assessed the domestic cold-rolled coil price as $43 per hundredweight ($860 per short ton) on Thursday December 13, down from $43.50 per cwt a week earlier; the domestic coated steel base price fell...Read More
Domestic prices for steel coil products in Turkey fell this week on continuing slow demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 14. "Prices are not important," a source told Fastmarkets. "Buyers are refraining from buying because of uncertainty in the market."December will be a slow month for the sector, and many people [also] expect January to be slow," he added. Fastmarkets' we...Read More
Domestic prices for coated-steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week to Friday December 14, with demand remaining limited. The local Turkish market has been slow for a long time and no significant improvement is expected in December, sources told Fastmarkets, because buyers usually postpone bookings towards the end of the year to avoid building up inventories. Domestic prices One...Read More
CIS export billet prices continued trending downwards on Friday December 14 in spite of producers' attempts to hold back the decline.Some mills were still insisting on offers around $427-430 per tonne fob Black Sea, but these prices were called barely workable by the market participants."I do not see the markets that are ready...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday December 14. China The domestic ferro-chrome spot price was unchanged from last week after sellers were heard to have become unwilling to cut their prices further because the current price level has left them limited room for profits. The imported charge chrome market was lackluster. Sel...Read More
Disappointing Chinese economic data has weighed on the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Friday December 14, with all the metals in negative territory and showing average losses of 0.4%. The three-month zinc price led the way with a drop of 1%, copper was off by 0.5% at $6,121 per tonne, while the rest were off by between 0.1% and 0.3%. Volume across the com...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday December 14:Noble alloysMolybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $12.10-12.20 per lb from $12.20-12.30Molybdenum US canned molybdic oxide, $/Ib $12.20-12.30 per Ib from $12.30-12.40Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $28.80-29.00 per kg from $29.20-29.40Ferro-vanadium basis...Read More
Manganese ore prices dropped by as much as 8% on Friday December 14 after miners slashed offer prices to entice cautious buyers before the end of the year. Fastmarkets MB's 37% manganese ore index, fob Port Elizabeth dropped by 53 cents to $5.50 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu)Fastmarkets MB's 37% manganese ore index, cif Tianjin dropped 51 cents to $6.22 per dmtu.Fastmarkets MB's 44% ma...Read More