With the global race to secure lithium heating up in 2016, Chile's president Michelle Bachelet wanted to be sure her country seized the moment. Home to half the world's lithium reserves, Chile tapping its state-run miner Codelco to ramp up production seemed a sure bet.Chile's most trusted public enterprise, she said, could hunt for private partners to help it mine its own lithium for the good of a...Read More

Anglo American's (LON: AAL) annual report, released this week takes great pains to set out the London-listed mining giant's policies around director's responsibilities and incentives.After an outcry over a generous long-term incentive program (LTIP) for executives in the form of stock grants in 2016, Anglo overhauled its policies.At the time, the company, with roots going back more than a hundred...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for April shipments due to low stock levels, with prices continuing to nudge up, sources said on Tuesday March 5.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), a 10,000-tonne mixture of HMS and plate & structural (P&S) scrap, and 5,000 tonnes of new cuttings at an....Read More

The price of copper on the Comex exchange in the United States bounced back in morning trading on Tuesday March 5, with continued optimism about the outcome of international trade talks.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded by 2.05 cents to $2.9295 per lb.Continued optimism about US-China trade talks has improved risk sentiment acro...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 5 that are worth another look.The United States Commerce Department launched a Section 232 investigation into titanium sponge imports on Monday March 4 after domestic producer Titanium Metals Corp (Timet) filed a petition in September.Ferro-chrome prices are likely to be supported in the near to medium term by co...Read More

The US spot copper premium, which has held at a four-year high since July 2018, could come under pressure from an anticipated influx of Chinese material, market participants told Fastmarkets AMM.Fastmarkets AMM assessed the US copper cathode premium steady at 7-7.5 cents per lb delivered to the Midwest on Tuesday March 5; the premium is up by 26.1% from 5.5-6 cents per lb one year ago."There...Read More

Codelco faces further delays in bringing back refined copper smelting at its Chuquicamata plant, which is now expected to resume operations in mid-April, company sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 5.Chuquicamata, which has the capacity to smelt 320,000 tonnes of refined copper per year, has been out of the market since mid-December as Codelco upgrades...Read More

Nickel demand is set to outstrip supply as soon as 2023, Amur Minerals chief executive officer Robin Young told Fastmarkets in an interview on Wednesday February 27. The junior mining company owns the Russia-based Kun-Manie project, the world's largest Asia-adjacent unexploited nickel deposit, home to an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of mineable nickel ore. And if nickel demand outstrips supply as...Read More

Base metals trading firm Traxys has hired Juli??n Gonzalez to trade zinc and lead concentrates, sources confirmed to Fastmarkets. Gonzalez was last at Swiss trader Trafigura, where he headed refined zinc and lead trading. Gonzalez will serve under Traxys' new...Read More

RAPAPORT... A synthetics detector costing less than $7,000 has emerged asone of only three machines with a 100% accuracy score in a recent industry-widestudy. Yehuda's Sherlock Holmes, priced at $6,495, correctlyidentified all synthetic diamonds in a "deliberately challenging" sample,according to a report the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) and SignetJewelers released Tuesday. De Beers' Diamo...Read More

RAPAPORT... The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has enacted aresolution calling for reforms to increase the effectiveness of the KimberleyProcess (KP), the World Diamond Council (WDC) said. The European Union proposed the resolution at the assembly's73rd session on March 1, with all 193 UNGA members agreeing to it. "We are most heartened by the adoption of the resolution bythe UNGA, not on...Read More

RAPAPORT... Phillips has hired Geoffrey Hess as a consultant for itswatch department, to support the division's collaborations, events, sourcingand new business initiatives. Hess - an aficionado of vintage sports watches - was previously the CEOof vintage-timepiece platform Analog/Shift, the auction house said Monday. He was also CEO of Ivanka TrumpFine Jewelry and senior adviser to former New Yor...Read More

RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, March 5, 2019, Las Vegas ... Diamond dealers remained cautious in February amid excess supply and selective demand. Suppliers had low expectations for the important Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show as economic and political factors have impacted sentiment in China. There was stable demand at the show for 0.70- to 1.99-carat, F-J, VS2-SI2 diamonds, with...Read More

The prices for hot-rolled coil imported into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have fallen over the past week, with the prices for other flat steel products moving in the opposite direction, but buying activity for all such materials has remained limited, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday March 5.Deals were scarce because end-user demand was still weak, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition, sto...Read More

Resource development, a principal economic driver of the Northwest Territories' (NWT) economy, is getting a $5.1 million boost in federal funding.The Government of Canada is investing in two projects that will support resource development in the Slave Geological Province (SGP), an area where the territory's three operating diamond mines are located.New mining projects are expected to inject n...Read More

RAPAPORT... Star Diamond Corporation has noted a large quantity of high-valueand large rough stones at its two exploration sites in Canada, sending itsstock price shooting upward. Nearly 27% of diamonds at its Star project are type IIa, acategory that represents less than 2% of all rough diamonds mined fromkimberlites, the company reported Monday. The proportion of that category at its OrionSouth...Read More

Price assessments for steel rebar and billet imported into the United Arab Emirates have decreased slightly this week because of lower prices in agreed deals, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 5.Demand for rebar in the country remained only moderate.Rebar importsOman sold rebar to its northern neighbor state at $530 per tonne cpt UAE.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UAE rebar impor...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices lost their upward momentum on Tuesday March 5 amid declining futures, while trading activity also thinned. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,840 yuan ($567-573) per tonne, narrowed downward by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,800-3,830 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneDeclining futures led sellers to lower their prices in the morning. The...Read More

China's domestic prices for hot-rolled coil moved down slightly on Tuesday March 5 amid falling futures, but mills raised their export offers on optimism for demand to pick up in both locally and abroad.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,850-3,880 yuan ($574-579) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,780-3,800 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonne Losses in the futures...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. ...Read More