The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR? Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...Read More
Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More
The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...Read More
Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More
RAPAPORT... Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) garnered $5.2 million from the tender of a 118.58-carat rough diamond in Dubai, setting a local record.The price was the highest for any rough stone sold on the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) tender floor, the bourse reported Thursday. The piece fetched $44,004 per carat."The stone generated huge interest from the leading specialist manufacturers from...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa's rough-diamond prices have reached their highest level since late 2018 as scarcities prevented the Russian miner from meeting strong demand.The company's rough-price index, which tracks like-for-like valuations, jumped 22% year on year in the third quarter and rose 10% versus the previous three months, it reported Friday.While the diamond market's recovery from the Covid-1...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto's rough-diamond production from its Diavik mine in Canada fell in the third quarter amid the recovery of lower-grade ore.Output dropped 17% year on year to 834,000 carats for the three months ending September 30, the company said last week. The decline also reflected the processing of lower volumes of ore during the period. Output slipped 2% from the previous quarter.For the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Miners in Australia have unearthed the world's second ever Matryoshka or Russian doll diamond. The 0.844-carat flat, triangular gem has a cavity that contains another tiny diamond, reckoned to be just 0.001-ct, which can freely roll around inside.It was discovered by India Bore Diamond Holdings (IBDH) in the southern part of the Ellendale alluvial deposit, in Western Aust...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Dubai's Diamond Exchange has sold its most expensive rough stone ever - a 118.58-ct diamond that went for just over $5.21m.It was the highlight of the Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) October tender, which raised a total of $35.57m.The record-breaking diamond is described as being of "exceptional color and clarity". The price paid per carat was $44,004.TAGS sold 88.9 per cent o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Al Capone's diamond-encrusted platinum Patek Philippe pocket watch has sold for for $229,900, way above its $25,000 to $50,000 estimate.The watch - no longer working - is set with 90 single cut diamonds (.02-ct each / VS / EF).The condition report said: "Not working at present time. Dial is yellowed. Missing minute hand. Some rust on center post."It was among 174 lots sold by...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales rose in September as consumer fears over the Covid-19 Delta variant redirected spending toward goods rather than services, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.Revenue grew 0.7% versus the previous month and jumped 14% over the same period a year ago, according to data the US Census Bureau reported last week. That compares to a 0.9% month-on-month increase in Augus...Read More
"With this support, our government is strengthening communities, creating jobs and helping more northerners live, work and build careers in Northern Ontario," said Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing.Funding for the following businesses is being delivered through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC): $400,000 for Fabrene Inc. - a manufacturer and supplier of high-quality plastic produc...Read More
Gold pricing continues to be affected by rising yields inU.S. 10-year Treasury notes. Market sentiment continues to be under theassumption that as early as mid-November the Federal Reserve will begin totaper their asset purchases of $120 billion monthly. The most recent news isthe pace at which they will taper. According to the statement released lastweek of the last FOMC meeting, they plan to red...Read More
Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Hedge funds remain hesitant to jump back into the gold market as the Federal Reserve looks to tighten its monetary policy in the faceof growing inflation pressures, according to analysts evaluating the...Read More
Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices areslightly down in lackluster midday U.S. trading Monday. It's a quieter start tothe trading week and the metals market traders are awaiting new fundamentalinformation to help...Read More