As consumer inventories of cobalt start to run low, their metal restocking alone is unlikely to establish a floor in ailing prices, such is the believed extent of the surplus, according to Fastmarkets' market sources. Trader and consumer buying returned to the cobalt market in earnest last week for the first time in the best part of a year, but the restocking does not signal the beginning of a ret...Read More
With the international cobalt metal market falling rapidly between December 2018 and February this year, the arbitrage between the international and Chinese cobalt metal price has gradually turned in favor of Chinese imports. As a result, Chinese buyers have been considering increasing their shipments of cobalt metal since February with an expectation international cobalt prices are close to botto...Read More
Vancouver-based UEX Corporation has shared the third set of assays from the winter drill program at its West Bear cobalt-nickel property in the eastern part of the Athabasca Basin.The company said that 14 of the 20 assays exceeded the cobalt equivalent grade of 0.023% or more.Highlights from the results include hole WBC-063, which intersected 4.5 metres averaging 0.11% cobalt and 0.49% nickel from...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday April 1 that are worth another look.The United States has challenged European Union proposals to label titanium dioxide and cobalt as carcinogens on free-trade grounds. As consumer inventories of cobalt start to run low, their metal restocking alone is unlikely to establish a floor in ailing prices, such is the believed exte...Read More
Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) has become the world's second-largest aluminium producer - overtaking Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal - by increasing output to 4.17 million tonnes, Fastmarkets understands.Rusal produced 3.75 million tonnes of aluminium last year.Chalco's 15.5% year on year output increase came amid a "complicated and fickle market environment," chairman Lu Dongliang said...Read More
Andrew Green has been promoted to executive director of the International Zinc Association (IZA), the trade group said on Monday April 1. CHICAGO - Andrew Green has been promoted to executive director of the International Zinc Association (IZA), the trade group said on Monday April 1. Green is a 20-year veteran of the zinc industry and was involved in...Read More
Nornickel, one of the world's top nickel producers, has announced plans to develop a mining project and nickel concentrator in its home country, Russia, to help it to achieve a projected 15% increase in nickel and copper production by 2025, Fastmarkets has heard.The company will invest 90 billion roubles ($1.37 billion) between now and 2023 in an attempt to develop the South Cluster mining project...Read More
Codelco's own refined copper output totaled 1.68 million tonnes in 2018, compared with 1.73 million tonnes in the previous year, the Chilean company said on Friday March 29 in its earnings report. Falling copper content in mined ore was one of the main reasons why overall production by the state-owned group reached 1.81 million tonnes during the year, below 1.84 million tonnes in 2017, according t...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher at the close of trading on Monday April 1, supported by strength in both the Chinese and United States' manufacturing data despite continued market concerns over the health of the global economy. Despite reported strength from the manufacturing sector, US retail sales were weaker than expected in February at -0.4%, down from...Read More
RAPAPORT... Retail sales of jewelry and other luxury items declined inHong Kong in February, impacted by weakened consumer sentiment and the timingof the Lunar New Year. Revenue from jewelry, watch, clocks and other valuable giftsfell 10% year on year to HKD 7.25 billion ($923.1 million) for the month, the municipality'sCensus and Statistics Department reported Monday. Sales in all retailcate...Read More
The US copper price built on Friday's momentum with the base metals complex receiving a boost from strong Chinese manufacturing data on Monday April 1.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 1.25 cents to $2.9520 per lb. Overnight, the Chinese official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in March, beating the exp...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based jeweler Chow Sang Sang saw a 13% rise insales in 2018, amid improved consumer sentiment and a spike in gold demand inthe first half of the year. Group sales came to HKD 18.81 billion ($2.40 billion) forthe year, as revenue from jewelry retail increased 18% to HKD 17.13 billion($2.18 billion). Proceeds from other businesses, including property, fell 21%to HKD 1.68 b...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for Asia Pacific continued to drop in the second half of March in the absence of Las Bambas output, while Chinese smelters are prepared to accept significantly lower spot TCs for the second quarter this year. Fastmarkets' spot copper concentrate index for Asia Pacific was calculated at $66.7 per tonne/ 6.67 cents per lb on March 25, d...Read More
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RAPAPORT... De Beers will allow its sightholders to disclose sourceinformation on diamonds they purchase from the company, after unveiling its "diamonds from DTC" program Monday. "We are proud of where our diamonds are discovered, how werecover them responsibly and the role our activities play in building thrivingcommunities," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. "By enabling our customers t...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has unearthed a 134-carat yellow, the second significant colored diamond it has found this year. It discovered the high-quality, type I stone on March 31 at its Let??engmine in Lesotho, the company said Sunday. The last yellow-diamond of that magnitude the miner reported on was a 151.52-carat stone, which it retrieved in June 2017. In March, Gem Diamonds sold a pink...Read More
RAPAPORT... Initiatives in Art and Culture (IAC) will present FerielZerouki with its award for leadership in responsible practice in jewelry. The honor is bestowed annually on members of the jewelryindustry, or part of a jewelry-focused organization, that have made atransformational contribution to ethical sourcing and responsible practice inthe global trade, IAC said last week. Zerouki, De...Read More
Prices for merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel were flat in the United States over the past month amid reports of mostly steady market conditions, while confirmed transactions for Mexican material have caused import prices to dip slightly. Fastmarkets AMM assessed domestic 2- x 2- x 1/4 -inch angle merchant bar at $37.05 per hundredweight ($741 per short ton) fob mill on Friday March 29, unchanged...Read More
Russian state-controlled miner Alrosa, the world's biggest producer of rough diamonds in carat terms, raised $11.8 million in its first New York diamond auction of the year, as it seeks to increase its activity in the United States.Rebecca Foerster, president of Alrosa, North America, said sanctions against some Russian companies did not diminish the appeal of Russian high quality diamonds.Alrosa...Read More
@import url(https://ofc.rapaport.com:449CuteSoft_Client/CuteEditor/Load.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(styles/editnewscuteeditor.css); RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has updated thelanguage in its lab-grown-diamond certificates to conform to the recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines.The grading lab will no longer use the term sy...Read More