Indian importers have rejected the latest offer prices for imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC), citing falling prices for the commodity in the domestic market, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 29.Indian HRC import prices were assessed by Fastmarkets at $575-580 per tonne cfr Indian ports on March 29, compared with last week's assessment of $560-565 per tonne cfr, an increase of $15 per tonne.The lat...Read More
Shares in Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) jumped more than 8% on Friday after the miner announced it had dug up a 425.1 carat, D-colour, Type II gem quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.The discovery comes less than a month after Petra found a 100.83 carat gem-quality white diamond at the same mine, source of the world's biggest-ever diamond, which was unearthed in 1905.Earlier in...Read More
The South American flat steel import market remained uneventful during the past week, as participants in Brazil, the largest country in the region, kept away from spot deals, and prices from China, the most active seller, were still significantly higher than those locally.Fastmarkets' assessment for hot-rolled coil prices in South America was at $565-575 per tonne cfr on March 29, the same le...Read More
The Accredited Gemologists Association announced the presenters of its AGA Las Vegas Conference that will take place on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the Westin Las Vegas. A regular at AGA conferences, GIA's Shane McClure will be talking about "Detecting Heat Treatment Levels in Corundum." McClure, a recipient of the Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology (2007), will tel...Read More
Firestone Diamonds announced its interim results of its Liqhobong mine for the six months ended 31 December 2018. The company recovered 465, 680 carats, among which was the mine's largest diamond found to date, a 326-carat light yellow makeable stone. The aerage value per carat realized was $71, somewhat lower than in the parallel period in 2018. The lower price per carat is the result...Read More
London-listed Petra Diamonds has recovered a 425.10 ct D-colour Type II gem-quality diamond at its Cullinan mine, in South Africa."The recovery further demonstrates the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody, as well as the ability of the mine's plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds," the company said in a statement on Friday.AdvertisementIt expects the...Read More
In an interview with Mining Review Africa. Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, reiterated the company's focus on its African portfolio. "Mining in Africa is at the core of our business, just as it always has been, and just as it will be in future. While Venetia is currently our only mine in South Africa, it is one of the world's only Tier 1 assets. With our US$2 billion investment t...Read More
Baselworld closed its doors on Wednesday, March 26. Michel Loris-Melikoff, Managing Director of Baselworld, concluded the show's closing press conference saying: "Baselworld 2019 is now history, and we look forward to 2020." Noting that 2019 was a year of transition for Baselworld, Melikoff reported that 520 brands had exhibited at Baselworld 2019. This year's show was attended by 81,...Read More
On March 5th, exactly 11 years to the day that De Beers Canada took control of operations at Victor Mine, the final haul truck brought the last load of ore from the pit to mark the end of mining activities at Ontario's first and only diamond mine. The honour of driving the last truck went to Nancy Wesley, of Kashechewan First Nation. She worked at Victor for 11 years, as a haul truck driver, dozer...Read More
The low price environment in which the Renard diamond mine began its operations two years ago is continuing to affect the company operating the Quebec-based mine, with Stornoway Diamonds ending 2018 in the red.The listed diamond miner on Thursday reported a net loss of C$329.4-million, or C$0.39 a share, on lower revenue of C$165.5-million. This compares with a net loss of C$144.22-million in 2017...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to use its 65% Fe Brazilian Fines Index, cfr Qingdao (MBIOI-65-BZ) as the base price for its Direct Reduced (DR)-grade Iron Ore Pellet Premium Middle East reference. Currently, Fastmarkets' 62% Fe Fines Index, cfr Qingdao (MBIOI-62) is used as the base price. The proposed move follows a shift in the market to 65% Fe fines as the base price for some pellet contracts....Read More
Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsThe company aims to leverage the "structural investments" it is making via the New Mine Level project that will start operation in 2023 to ensure the mine has decades more life while maintaining current production levels. A new round of investments is being studied to both increase production...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to remain out of the deep-sea scrap market at the end of the week due to the uncertain political situation in the country, sources said on Friday March 29.The Turkish lira was still very volatile against the US dollar because of the political instability and Turkish steel producers preferred to wait for the results of Sunday's mayoral elections before m...Read More
Turkish miners are seeing their profit margins fluctuate daily, as the Turkish lira swings wildly against the dollar. After a long period of stability since the country's financial crisis a year ago, volatility has returned to the Turkish lira over the last week, as it gains or loses up to 5% by the day. On March 22 the lira fell from 5.47 to the dollar, to a low of 5.83 to the dollar. The currenc...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap into India inched down this week following deals done at lower levels, sources said on Friday March 29.Fastmarkets MB's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $334.38 per tonne cfr on March 29, down from $335.75 per tonne cfr on March 22. This week deals were heard for shredded done at $333, $335 and $337 per tonne cfr. The lowes...Read More
Positive headlines regarding continuing US-China trade talks have fueled a recovery in global risk sentiment so far on Friday March 29, subsequently providing support to three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange. Nickel and zinc led the complex higher, both up by 0.8%, while copper followed close behind with a gain of 0.7%. Lead, tin and aluminium saw more moderate increases...Read More
Prices for light iron steel scrap in the United Kingdom were rolled over for a second week on Friday March 29 amid steady trading, with relatively tight availability in some areas and regular business going overseas, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?90-110 ($118-144) per tonne on March 29. This price range...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 10 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to U.S. government comments that trade negotiations with China are "going well". The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.2%.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of February Personal Income at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for February Personal Income wa...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices ended the week lower in line with market participants' expectations.A cargo of premium low-vol hard coking coal was traded at around $202 per tonne cfr China, while an offer for a shipment of premium mid-vol materials was made at $205 per tonne fob Australia, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 29.A cargo of second-tier hard coking coal was heard offered at around...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has announced new warehouse reform proposals - the friendliest to warehousers in seven years - that aim to make LME warehousing attractive again and encourage more metal onto the exchange.In a discussion paper sent to members on Friday March 29, the exchange proposed relaxing queue-based rent capping (QBRC) to 80 days, lower rent and Free On Truck (FOT) fees, as well as m...Read More