Norway-based silicon and ferro-silicon producer Elkem has opened a new production workshop in Shanghai, China to manufacture specialized silicones for hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs), the company said on Wednesday November 2. Silicones are high-performance polymers made up of silicon, oxygen and other elements that can include carbon and hydrogen. They are used in the assembly, electrical integ...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap bookings at escalating prices despite weakening demand in the finished steel markets, sources said on Thursday December 3. A steel mill in northern Turkey booked a Baltic Sea cargo - comprising 15,000 tonnes of an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap, 15,000 tonnes of shredded and 3,000 tonnes of bonus - at average price of $365 per to...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday December 3 that are worth another look.China's domestic prices for stainless cold-rolled coil dropped slightly over the week ended Wednesday December 2 on reduced demand and a weaker nickel market.The...Read More

Three-month base-metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the 5pm close of trading on Thursday December 3, with nickel and aluminium showing drops of more than 1% but tin gaining by nearly $100 per tonne day-on-day.Nickel's price fell to $15,954 per tonne at Thursday's close, down by 0.3% from $16,000 per tonne on Wednesday, which in turn was down by 1.7% from Tuesday's three-month...Read More

JP Morgan has gone from the biggest short seller to the biggest...by Chris Powell of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA)11:55a ET Wednesday, December 2, 2020Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:In an interview with Investment Rarities proprietor Jim Cook, silver market analyst Ted Butler elaborates on his view that JPMorgan Chase's switch from short to long in silver futures foretells the liberati...Read More

The bankers are desperate...by Harvey Organ of Harvey Organ BlogDEC 2//DOLLAR PLUMMETS/USA BOND YIELDS RISE AND THAT SENDS GOLD/SILVER MUCH HIGHER! GOLD UP ANOTHER $12.00 TO $1827.00//SILVER UP ONE CENT TO $23.97//STRANGE COMEX DATA TODAY AS COMEX OI FOR GOLD AND SILVER DROP DESPITE YESTERDAY'S HUGE RISE//GOLD STANDING 93.9 TONNES//CORONAVIRUS UPDATE//CHINA VS USA ET AL: CHINA WARNS THAT IT MAY HO...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in both fob and cfr markets continued their uptrend on Thursday December 3, following an active trading day in the fob market the day before. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $103.08 per tonne, up $0.75 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $168.78 per tonne, up $1.52 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $90.80 per tonne,...Read More

The London Metal Exchange aluminium price increased by 9.8% over November but the high price continues to tighten the forward curve.It hit a fresh year-to-date high of $2,080 per tonne on December 2, 12% higher than the start of November when the price was just $1,844.50 per tonne and up 46% from the 2020 low of $1,424.50 per tonne in April.The recent November rally was the first time the LME thre...Read More

E-commerce driving sales at start of US holiday season. Black Friday online spending +22% to $9B, Cyber Monday +15% to $10.8B, reports Adobe Analytics. In-store shopping sluggish due to ongoing spread of Covid-19. Foot traffic -55% on Thanksgiving Day, according to NRF. Black Friday jewelry sales -54%, says RetailNext. Signet 3Q sales +9% to $1.3B, profit of $9.3M vs. loss of $36M. Cyberattack dis...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) and the Bahrain Bourse have agreed to collaborate on trade following a recent peace deal between the Middle East countries.The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the IDE on Thursday calling for the exchange of information and the promotion of business relations, they said in separate statements the same day. The bourses...Read More

New bookings of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)-origin billet to Turkey and Southeast Asia were heard at higher prices this week, with suppliers continuing to push for increases.Market participants in other regions retained their wait-and-see stance, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 3.Billet offers were heard at $510-520 per tonne fob Black Sea from a few Russian suppliers; h...Read More

RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers saw its first quarterly sales increase in two years as innovations helped the company capitalize on a release of pent-up demand and early holiday shopping.Revenue rose 9.5% year on year to $1.3 billion for the third fiscal quarter ending October 31, the US retailer reported Thursday. Same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - jumped 15%, while net pr...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A woman passenger flying from Dubai was caught smuggling diamonds worth almost $600,000 into Ukraine. Customs officers seized polished stones weighing over 50 grams yesterday at the Boryspil International Airport after a tip-off. The woman, a Ukrainian national, was found to have 38 small plastic bags of diamonds, sorted by size, according to UNIAN, the Ukrainian Independent Inform...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The largest gem-quality colored rough diamond ever recovered at Lulo, Angola, has been cut and polished into a 15.2-carat heart shape and two smaller stones.Trading reforms brought in by the country's government last year will allow mine operator Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML) to seek higher prices than it would previously achieve at mine gate.  Australian miner Luc...Read More

RAPAPORT... Zales has launched its first online marketplace, which will feature a rotating line of pieces by up-and-coming fine-jewelry designers from across the US.The Signet Jewelers-owned banner conducted a nationwide search for maverick designers that would appeal to consumers' love of unique, statement-making jewelry, it said Wednesday. Zales reached out to jewelry organizations and design sc...Read More

RAPAPORT... Stuller has made progress recovering from a cyberattack that struck over the weekend, with deliveries resuming and communications systems back in action."As customers place orders this week, we are committed to and anticipate meeting our quoted lead times and delivery dates," Stuller president Danny Clark said Wednesday in a note to clients.The US jewelry wholesaler is getting "cl...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has released the polished results of a 46-carat pink rough it sold into a manufacturing partnership with Graff subsidiary Safdico. A heart-shaped, 15.2-carat, fancy-intense-orangey-pink, VVS1-clarity diamond is one of three stones Safdico cut from the largest gem-quality, colored diamond ever recovered from Lucapa's Lulo operation in Angola, the miner said T...Read More

RAPAPORT... Hong Kong customs officials seized 162 diamonds at a border crossing with China last week, claiming the stones had been smuggled in a driver's trouser pocket.The goods had a market value of around HKD 6.4 million ($826,000), making it the largest diamond-smuggling case Hong Kong authorities had detected in the past three years, the Customs and Excise Department said in a statement...Read More

The domestic price for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved up again day-on-day on Thursday December 3 due to a materials shortage in the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?570.00 ($688.49) per tonne on Thursday, up by ?,?4.23 per tonne from ?,?565.77 per tonne on December 2.The index was up by ?,?...Read More

Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipGenesis opens new chapter at UlyssesSPONSOREDgenesis mineralsDigbee talks the rebirth of independent investment researchSPONSOREDdigbee'Best discovery in my time': De Grey on the march at HemiSPONSOREDde grey miningBig movers in the top 10 of the latest list were US-based copper miner Southern Copper Company, which rose si...Read More