The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The recent announcement about Vale's resumption of operations in Brazil, along with new concerns about a slump in demand because of heavy rainfall in China, has resulted in the end of the iron ore price rally. There has also been pressure from tight steel spreads, with the operating margins for Chinese steel mills shrinking...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices climbed further last week and we expect the elevated levels to remain into the next month. In particular, further upside will come from blast furnace (BF) capacity, which was reduced in Europe, Japan and the United States and has now come back online after restrictions started to be removed. With Covid-19 spr...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are relatively stable this month, showing little change since our previous tracker. Such stability masks growing issues for stainless steelmakers, however, who are increasingly unable to pass on rising costs to consumers and are, thus, facing cuts to their margins.In general, this is due to an excess of...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices have fared relatively well over the past couple of months in the face of the threat from the Covid-19 pandemic.In grade-304 material, the most common grade of stainless steel, prices were down by about 5-7% since the turn of the year - not bad, when compared with the falls in prices of other assets so f...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Having first hit Asia during early 2020, the Covid-19 viral outbreak is now having an even bigger impact on European countries and the US. Widespread lockdown measures have been put in place on people and industry, and economic activity has slowed markedly.For now, stainless steel markets in Europe and the US are yet to show...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Covid-19 shutdown and its consequences have caused many diamond wholesalers and jewelry retailers to reevaluate even the most basic business practices. Is there a new normal for memos as well? Memos, both short- and long-term, have been integral to the industry. "Much of the business is based on a consignment program," says David Rakower, president of New York-based manufacturer Jo...Read More

RAPAPORT... Synthetic-diamond firm Lumex will set up shop in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), as the trading hub looks to expand its lab-grown sector. "In line with its mandate to attract, facilitate and drive new trade flows through Dubai, DMCC is positioning the emirate as a hub for both the natural and laboratory-grown diamond trade," the DMCC said Monday.Last year, DMCC held its...Read More

RAPAPORT... Belgium's diamond trade slowed in June, with polished exports down 44% year on year to $469 million, according to data from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). However, the rate of decline eased following heavier drops in April and May, when the global industry shut due to the coronavirus. US orders rose 4% to $173 million in June, indicating a gradual recovery as the importa...Read More

(IDEX Online ) - A Chinese jewelry firm based in Wuhan stands accused of securing loans with eighty-three tons of fake gold.Kingold Jewelry is a Nasdaq-listed company based in the city which reported the world's first cases of coronavirus.The allegation made in Caixin, a Chinese publication known for its investigative journalism, is that Kingold used copper-alloy bars with a gold leaf coating...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Covid-19 pandemic that has swept the globe has had a notable impact on the diamond industry, with new developments unfolding every day. Here, we present a one-stop, running news feed on industry events impacted by the virus.July 2?EUR? Rio Tinto has carried out nearly 2,600 Covid-19 tests at its Diavik diamond mine in Canada since introducing the measure seven weeks ago. All c...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Dubai is expanding its lab-grown sector by welcoming Lumex to its diamond hub.Lumex was founded in 2018 by the Mehta family, owners of the Rosy Blue empire, and produces diamonds up to two carats.The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) is keen to grow both its mined and lab-grown sectors, with safeguards to ensure the stones remain separate.It says it is "committed to growing the...Read More

U.S. jewelers had great hope for 2020.  The 2019 end-of-year November-December holiday shopping season was strong, a trend that carried over to the January-February 2020 Valentine's Day selling period, when jewelry shoppers opened their wallets for their sweethearts.  Jewelry industry sales were up solidly by an estimated 7% in the first six weeks of 2020 through February 14, 2020 (...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for late July and August shipments, although prices slipped back after spiking on Friday, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 6.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo, comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $253 per tonne and 1,000 tonnes of shredded at $258 per tonne cfr late on Friday July 3. ...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The manager of a diamond unit in Surat, India, was arrested for allegedly breaching COVID-19 rules.Police say they found 26 employees working at a factory in the Katargam area of the city, which is in lockdown because of localized outbreak of coronavirus, according to a Times of India report.Municipal officers on a routine check reportedly found that the factory, at Gangotri Tower...Read More

The export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States was quiet during the week ended Monday July 6, on low trading activity.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $400-415 per tonne on Monday, unchanged week on week.Both suppliers and buyers were inactive during the week, sources said."Everyone [in Turkey] se...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesA strike would affect the mines of state copper company Codelco, as well as BHP's Escondida and Spence, and lithium producer SQM in the Antofagasta region. AES operates power generation plants at Nueva Tocopilla and Cochrane, as well as solar power plants, which only supply mining operations."We passed a regulated negotiation two m...Read More

The Shanghai Futures Exchange nickel price continued its gains on Monday July 6 after a strong performance last week, with positive macro sentiment supporting the price despite quiet spot demand, sources told Fastmarkets. SHFE's July nickel contract finished the day at 106,070 yuan ($15,022) per tonne, up by 1,170 yuan per tonne, or 1.12%, from 104,900 yuan per tonne on July 3. "It's a macro-...Read More

We are only a few days into the third quarter of 2020, but no benchmark premium has yet been set for the supply of aluminium ingots to Japan for the July-September period.Market participants remain at loggerheads, unable to agree on a fixed number for this quarter. This means that the MJP aluminium quarterly premium cannot yet be published by Fastmarkets.Typically, negotiations for the MJP quarter...Read More

Copper prices are poised to move above the $7,000-per-tonne level next year as the supply impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic last well beyond this year and the market enters a prolonged period of structural undersupply, the chief executive officer of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) said. According to Benedikt Sobotka, around 700,000 tonnes of mined copper output has been lost to date due to disruptio...Read More