The European price of mesh-quality wire rod stayed flat on Wednesday March 27, while producers remained confident that prices would improve soon on the basis of solid fundamentals.Fastmarkets' weekly domestic price assessments for mesh-quality wire rod for both Northern and Southern Europe stayed at ?,?535-550 ($604-621) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, with another very quiet week...Read More
Gold's net bullish positions increased for the first time in three weeks. Positions remain in bullish territory for the eighteenth straight week. Gold speculators increased their bullish net positions in the week ended March 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data released on Friday showed. The non-commercial futures contracts of Gold futures, traded by large spec...Read More
An overview of the noble alloys markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 27 that are worth another look.The new London Metal Exchange cash-settled alumina contract will help the exchange to retain its top spot as the global reference for the aluminium industry, according to LME business development analyst Antonio Masiero. While the market moves away from pricing alumina as a percentage of th...Read More
Spent lead-acid battery prices have risen slightly in the United States, reaching a more than four-month high due to sustained domestic and offshore demand, along with tighter supply."Demand from the battery sector is off slightly from the mid-winter period but most plants seem to be operating at a good level," one US buyer source said. "[Flows of] scrap batteries have slowed a bit so prices...Read More
The alumina market could move into a surplus once Norsk Hydro's Alunorte refinery in Brazil increases its capacity and market tightness is alleviated, according to research by Fastmarkets analysts.The refinery, in Brazil's northern state of Par??, has been operating at 50% of its annual capacity since March 2018 due to environmental issues, but could reach 75-80% of capacity within two months of r...Read More
March 27, 2019Toronto, Ontario (March 27, 2019) - Mega Uranium Ltd. (TSX: MGA) announces the results of its annual and special shareholder meeting held earlier today. Each of the nominees listed below was elected as a director by a show of hands of the majority of shareholders. The results of the shares voted in person or by proxy in respect of the election of each director are:NomineeShares V...Read More
The new London Metal Exchange cash-settled alumina contract will help the exchange to retain its top spot as the global reference for the aluminium industry, according to LME business development analyst Antonio Masiero.Speaking at the Fastmarkets Bauxite & Alumina Conference in Miami on Wednesday March 27, Masiero said that, while the market moves away from pricing alumina as a percentage of the...Read More
India will need to produce or import of 60 million tonnes per year of bauxite by 2030 to meet its aluminium needs, an executive at the International Bauxite, Alumina and Alumininium Society (IBAAS) said during Fastmarkets' 25th Bauxite & Alumina conference in Miami on Wednesday March 27. Domestic Indian production will be dependent on the availability of other raw materials such as caustic soda an...Read More
Improving end-user demand boosted the US premium for 4x4 nickel cut cathode in the week ended Tuesday March 26, but European market participants were bearish leading to a flat market, and China was quiet due to a closed import window. US cut cathode premium moves up again European traders deterred by LME nickel contango China's trade mostly domestic, partly to avail of recent tax cuts U...Read More
RAPAPORT... A fancy-intense-blue diamond ring with an estimate of $2.5million to $3 million is on track to be the top seller at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels auction in NewYork next month. The cut-cornered square modified brilliant-cut, 3.24-caratstone, flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds, will go under the hammer at the April17 sale, Sotheby's said Wednesday. Other notable pieces include a p...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe remained flat on Wednesday March 27, while export prices narrowed higher on business toward the top of the range.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for export rebar in Southern Europe narrowed upward to ?,?470-490 ($531-554) per tonne fob main ports on Wednesday from ?,?460-490 per tonne previously, while the price assessment for dome...Read More
Domestic prices for hollow steel sections in Northern Europe narrowed this week, while market participants failed to agree on the likely future direction of prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 27.Fastmarkets' domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe narrowed by ?,?5 per tonne at the low end of the range o...Read More
RAPAPORT... Silver-jewelry sales rose for the 10th consecutive year in 2018,according to research by the Silver Promotion Service (SPS). Some 52% of US jewelry retailers participating in the survey reported higher sales, withthe majority noting double-digit increases, the SPS reported. Younger customers and femaleself-purchasers were important sources of revenue, the jewelers noted....Read More
The last truckload of kimberlite from Ontario's first and only diamond mine has left the pit. De Beers Canada said mining ceased at Victor mine on March 5 - 11 years to the day after the official opening in 2008.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 operator and production drill opera...Read More
Steel H-beam prices in the Northern European market widened this week because of a slowdown in increases to feedstock costs and poorer market conditions, while Southern European prices narrowed, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 27.The price changes were on the lower ends of the price range in both markets. Prices at the top ends of the ranges were unchanged.Fastmarkets' weekly price ass...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has sent out the final ore-haul truck from itsVictor mine in Canada, exactly 11 years to the day after the site's opening. The last load was driven by Nancy Wesley, who has worked asa haul-truck driver, dozer operator and production-drill operator at the minesince it opened, the company said last week. During the course of its operation, the mine was expandedfrom a 5-met...Read More
RAPAPORT... Baselworld will reduce booth prices by 10% to 30% at next year'sshow and move diamond dealers to a more attractive location, organizers have confirmed. Management will reopen Hall 2, which was empty at the 2019show, and place gem and pearl exhibitors in that area together with a newinnovation zone dedicated to smart watches and wearable devices. The plan asit stands would see the innov...Read More
Mining companies have requested a judicial review of South Africa's 2018 mining charter to change clauses related to transactions made in the past to increase black ownership, an industry body said on Wednesday.In a bid to rectify the wealth disparities of apartheid more than two decades after the end of white minority rule, South Africa has demanded that a proportion of a mining company's shares...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) dropped in Southern Europe due to slow trading, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic HRC in Southern Europe was ?,?460-480 ($520-542) per tonne ex-works on Wednesday March 27, down from ?,?480-490 per tonne ex-works a week earlier. Italian steelmakers were reported to offer HRC at ?,?460-465 per tonne ex-works to...Read More