Prices of flat steel coil products in the Brazilian spot market remained stable in August, with distributors finding it difficult to compete with a strong influx of imported material.High volumes of coil material arrived through July and continued into August, all booked at lower prices several months ago.Imports of flat steel reached 190,854 tonnes in July 2021, up by 141% from the 79,186 tonnes...Read More
Rebar and wire rod export prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to decrease in the week ended Monday August 16, pressured by the downward trend in the Turkish market that was spurred by a lack of demand and lower costs for imported scrap.Scrap prices in Turkey declined at the beginning of this week due to the latest transaction.Thus, Fastmarkets' index for steel scrap,...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices were stable across Europe on Monday August 16, reflecting typically quiet market conditions over the summer, sources told Fastmarkets.Most of the region's buyers and producers have been holding back from trading during August; activity is not expected to pick up until early September, as is traditional.Fastmarkets calculated its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 16 that are worth another look.Apparent steel use in the European Union will increase by 11.2% year on year in 2021, the European steel association Eurofer said in the week to August 16.A lack of available containers for shipments out...Read More
China's Covid-19 measures are causing chokepoints in the country's ferrous supply chain, raising logistical costs for both traders and steel mills.China's National Health Commission reported 51 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday August 16 - 38 imported cases and 13 locally transmitted ones. Six of the locally transmitted cases were in Jiangsu province, while six were detected in Henan. While the numb...Read More
Prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close on Monday August 16, with only tin making a solid advance, while the rest of the metals were either down or around their Friday levels. Tin's three-month price was up to $35,680 per tonne on Monday, up 1% from last Friday's closing price of $35,680 per tonne. It reached its latest all-time high of $35,955 per tonne on Thursday of last wee...Read More
Eastern China's domestic rebar price decreased slightly on Monday August 16 after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released housing industry data for July.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,190-5,220 yuan ($801-806) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneThe total area used for new housing construction totaled 1.19 billion square meters in January to July, down by 0.9% year on year, while the...Read More
Most iron ore prices increased on Monday August 16 despite limited trading activity in the physical market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.52 per tonne, up $1.45 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.03 per tonne, up $1.29 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $131.47 per tonne, up $0.81 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-o...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Fuelled by public policy and declining battery costs, global electric bus adoption is set to triple by 2025. The Chinese market - the most promising in this sector - will surpass the 1 million e-bus mark by 2023 and reach 1.3 million...Read More
RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds has recovered a 58.6-carat rough stone at its Kareevlei mine in South Africa, the company's largest to date.The stone is a D-color makeable - meaning it is suitable for having one large polished diamond cut from it - so the selling price will likely be "significant," said CEO Mike Houston in a Monday statement. He added, however, that it contained spotted black s...Read More
RAPAPORT... An 11.9-carat Kashmir sapphire ring that sold recently at Fellows achieved one of the highest prices for a single item in the auction house's 145-year history, according to the company.Following what Fellows dubbed a "fierce bidding war," the ring fetched a hammer price of GBP 141,000 ($195,290) at the Fine Jewels auction in Birmingham, UK, and ultimately totaled GBP 175,980 ($243,888)...Read More
Manganese flake prices hit record highs in Europe and the United States in the week ended Friday August 13, amid short supply, talk of further production cuts and persistent delays in transportation from China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for manganese, 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, in-whs Rotterdam, rose by 5.6% to $5,050-5,250 per tonne on August 13, up from $4,750-5,000 per tonne in the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - British designer Jenny Sweetnam has launched a fine gold jewelry collection featuring hidden diamonds.Gems in the aptly-named Inverse Collection are tucked away inside the pieces, visible only when the wearer opens them up.Unseen Diamond Ring, for example, (pictured) is described as "a circle shaped silhouette that functions like a box, coming apart with an inner and outer wa...Read More
Apparent steel use in the European Union will increase by 11.2% year on year in 2021, the European steel association Eurofer said in the week to Monday August 16.The association has downgraded the outlook slightly compared to figures publishedin May 2021.In its previous outlook, Eurofer expected the EU's apparent steel consumption toincrease by 11.7% year on year in 2021.The association also...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa says it could increase production "marginally" this year, to address a surge in demand and shortfall in supply.In its Q2 & 6M IFRS Results, the miner suggests a possible increase of five per cent for 2021, from 30m cts to about 31.5m cts. That's slightly higher than actual production last year, of 30m cts.It said rough diamond sales for the first half of the year ($...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Bidding opens today in what's billed as the world's first charity auction of lab grown diamonds.More than $75,000 of loose stones and lab grown pieces of jewelry are being sold in a joint venture by IGI labs and the Virtual Diamond Boutique (VDB) tech company in aid of the Jewelers for Children charity.Digital bids are made via VDB's dedicated app (pictured) and clos...Read More
A lack of available containers for shipments out of the main Peruvian port of Callao, and shipping costs that have tripled since the start of this year, were hampering exports of copper, zinc and lead from the South American country, even as mine production was recovering from shutdowns in 2020 that were forced by the Covid-19 pandemic.Peru was the world's third-largest producer of zinc in 2020 an...Read More
Prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close on Monday August 16, with only tin making a solid advance, while the rest of the metals were either down or around their Friday levels. Tin's three-month price was up to $35,680 per tonne on Monday, up 1% from last Friday's closing price of $35,680 per tonne. It reached its latest all-time high of $35,955 per tonne on Thursday of last wee...Read More
Fastmarkets has identified a necessary clarification to the nickel sulfate specification with regard to timing of loading.The timing of loading for Fastmarkets' nickel sulfate ex-works China price assessment is within seven days, which was not reflected in the specifications when the price assessment was launched in July 2018.Fastmarkets confirms that the specifications are as follows, with the cl...Read More
Chinese aluminium production in July of 3.26 million tonnes was down by 0.9% from June, according to National Bureau of Statistics data published on Monday August 16.Although domestic aluminium production in July was still up by 7.4% year on year, it was down for the third consecutive month following June's production of 3.29 million tonnes and May's 3.32 million tonnes.China produced 22.89 millio...Read More