Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower during morning trading on Thursday March 7, with European buying lackluster ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting where Eurozone growth forecasts could face cuts amid the bloc's slowing economic progress.Bucking the trend however, the three-month lead price pushed higher over the morning, breaching $2,100 per to...Read More

First Cobalt Corp. of Toronto has drilled its deepest hole to date at the Iron Creek cobalt project between Challis and Salmon. The hole reached a depth of 611 metres and confirmed that mineralization in the No Name zone extends a further 150 metre down dip.The No Name zone has now been traced to 300 metres down dip in the central area of the deposit and 400 metres in the west.Hole ICS18-28 return...Read More

Murchison Minerals (TSXV: MUR) announced this week that it is now the sole owner of the Haut Plateau du Manicouagan (HPM) nickel-copper-cobalt project in Qu?(C)bec, following its acquisition of Pure Nickel's (TSXV: NIC) 50% interest in the project.To be able to complete the transaction, Murchison had to make a $50,000 payment and issue 500,000 common shares of the company to Pure Nickel. The HPM p...Read More

European molybdenum prices rose this week with oxide prices hitting an 8-month high on tightening availability, while higher offer prices for oxide material were behind the rise in the alloy market, market sources said.Still, there is disparity between the fundamentals for oxide and those in ferro-molybdenum, market sources added, with the sustainability of the ferro-molybdenum price rise in quest...Read More

Domestic Turkish rebar and wire rod prices increased over the past week, mainly in as a result of the Turkish lira losing value against the US dollar, sources said on Thursday March 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY3,100-3,150 ($573-583) per tonne ex-works on Thursday, up from the TRY2,950-3,050 per tonne of last week, including 18% VAT.The local rebar pri...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday March 7 that are worth another look.UC Rusal's net profit rose by 39% year on year in 2018 despite the aluminium producer operating under trading sanctions imposed by the United States for the majority of the year, Rusal said in its results statement on Thursday March 7. Fastmarkets summarizes six hot topics that will like...Read More

The Comex copper price continued to drift on Thursday March 7 with uncertainty around US-China trade talks forcing market participants to retreat and delay any serious price action. The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 1.15 cents to $2.9070 per lb. Additionally, European buying was lackluster ahead of the European Central Bank's pol...Read More

UC Rusal's net profit rose by 39% year on year in 2018, despite the aluminium producer operating under trading sanctions imposed by the United States for the majority of the year, Rusal said in its results statement on Thursday March 7. Rusal recorded a net profit of $1.689 billion compared with $1.222 billion in 2017. The company's revenue increased by 3.1% to $10.28 billion from $9.969 billion f...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower during morning trading on Thursday March 7, with European buying lackluster ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting where Eurozone growth forecasts could face cuts amid the bloc's slowing economic progress.Bucking the trend however, the three-month lead price pushed higher over the morning, breaching $2,100 per to...Read More

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday March 07 *Copper -$172.72 (-1,161.42 yuan) Aluminium -$270.74 (-1,820.57 yuan) Zinc -$169.95 (-1,142.80 yuan) Nickel -$98.74 (-663.99 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker again this morning, Thursday March 7.With the exception of tin that was up by 0.5% and aluminium that was little changed, the rest of the complex were down between 0.2% for lead and 1.4% for nickel.Copper was off by 0.4% at $6,428 per tonne, compared with $6,455 per tonne at Wednesday's close, while nickel ha...Read More

Trade log for nickel sulfate in China including transactions, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets MB.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are yuan per tonne on an ex-works basis. Fastmarkets MB prices Click here for Fastmarkets MB's price assessment...Read More

Diamond trade cautious after slow Hong Kongshow. Demand selective and inventory levels high, with buyers insisting on deepdiscounts for goods under 0.50 ct. Low manufacturing profits reducing Indianpolished production as smaller goods not making money. 0.30ct. RAPI -0.6%, 1ct. RAPI +0.1% in Feb. with better market for 0.70 to 1.99 ct. De Beers prices flat at $490 million sight. Far East consumerou...Read More

Manufacturers maintaining reduced production in quietmarket. Margins under pressure due to high rough prices at De Beers sight and subduedpolished demand. Steady orders for 0.50 to 1.99 ct., G-H, VS2-SI1 (3X, nofluorescence). Stones with good or fair cut very hard to sell. Melee stable,with selective demand for stars, but manufacturers want to sell bigger meleesizes, as they offer better profits....Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales at Alrosa fell 36% year on year to $345.6 millionin February as a slowdown in the rough market continued. Rough-diamond sales dropped 36% to $340.6 millionfor the month, according to Rapaport calculations based on Alrosa reports.Polished revenues slid 45% to $5 million. Overall demand has improved versusJanuary, however, with total sales up 23% month on month, the Russian miner s...Read More

RAPAPORT... Retail sales of jewelry and other luxury items increased inHong Kong in January, boosted by the earlier timing of the Lunar New Year and highertourism. Revenue from jewelry, watch, clocks and other valuable giftsimproved by 4.7% year on year to HKD 8.47 billion ($1.08 billion), themunicipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Tuesday. Sales in allretail categories were...Read More

Reinforcing bar (rebar) steel prices have risen in the United States following late-February's mill hikes, while import prices have fallen following confirmed offers for Italian material. Fastmarkets' assessment for domestic rebar increased to $35.25-36.50 per hundredweight ($705-730 per short ton) fob mill on Wednesday March 6, up by 2.6% from $34.25-35.75 per cwt previously. At the same time, th...Read More

RAPAPORT... Four of Asia's industry groups have agreed to work together on standardizing language and rules for the diamond trade. The National Gemstone Testing Center (NGTC), the Gem andJewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT), the Gemmological Institute of India (GII),and the China Gems & Jade Exchange (CGE) signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) to further that effort, the NGTC said. Th...Read More

Alrosa, (MCX:ALRS) the world's top diamond producer by output, reported Thursday that total sales of rough and polished diamonds increased to $345.6 million, up 23% compared to January 2019 (up $64.1 million).Rough diamonds sales in February increased to $340.6 million, compared to $278.2 million in January 2019, while polished diamond sales grew to $5 million, compared to $3.4 million a...Read More

Diamcor, a Canadian junior diamond miner, said it had sold 1,220 carats of rough diamonds from the Krone-Endora at Venetia project in South Africa at its second tender held in the first quarter of the year. The sale netted the junior miner $376,000, with an average price of $308 per carat sold. This represented a significant improvement over the average price - $176 per carat - on all rough diamon...Read More