What happens next is all up to the physical buyers...by J. Johnson via JS MinesetGreat and Wonderful Monday Morning Folks, It's our President's Day Holiday for most, yet money rarely sleeps, with April Gold down $2.70 with the trade at $1,820.80 recovering from the low of $1,815.50 with the high at $1,827.10. Silver is not following protocol with the trade at $27.69, up 36.2 cents from t...Read More

It is almost 100% certain that SLV is not even close to being fully backed by silver for which SLV holds title...by Dave Kranzler of Investment Research DynamicsCNBC interviewed Goldman Sachs' Jeff Currie - the head of global commodity research at GS - regarding the potential for the silver market to be squeezed. In the segment Currie made the argument that on the Comex: "the shorts are the ETF...Read More

Is the Cartel prepared to lose its grip on silver in the very near future, or is the Cartel about to bear down on silver with one more shellacking?(by Half Dollar) I like silver more than I like cars and trucks.I'd rather not talk about my silver stack, however, because quite frankly, it's super tiny and very humble, and now that I think about it, by golly, I can't even remember what kind of silve...Read More

Spot zinc treatment charges (TCs) remained stable in mid-February in the run up to the Chinese New Year holidays, with smelter side activity muted in Asia. Fastmarkets assessed the zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China at $70-85 per tonne on Friday February 12, unchanged from January 29 when it dropped to a two-and-a-half-year low. A zinc tender from Dugald River attracted sharp terms, coming i...Read More

Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ovako have both begun to offer the first certified "green steel", following increased scrutiny on emissions from customers, the two companies announced separately. ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal Europe is offering green flat steel products using a system of certificates which are linked to the tonnes of CO2 savings achieved through the company's investment in decarbo...Read More

London Metal Exchange base metals maintained their bullish momentum during the morning on Monday February 15, with all except zinc hitting fresh year-to-date highs, despite the absence of Asian and United States trading.Tin rose by 1.5% to hit $24,095 per tonne in early trading, surpassing the 2021 high set on Friday February 12, and up from Friday's closing price of $23,650 per tonne. This follow...Read More

This article was originally published in the February 2021 issue of Rapaport Magazine. To download a PDF of this article, click here. Despite the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, China saw improvement in its jewelry market as 2020 drew to a close. This was a welcome outcome for the diamond industry, as China is both a major trade center and a significant consumer buying force in the sector. In 20...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.Back before coronavirus knocked “normal” out cold, the key issues for miners were sub-investment prices, rising requirements for ESG and decarbonisation. How things change. So while our base case view is that the recession...Read More

RAPAPORT... Prices of fancy-color diamonds slipped marginally in the fourth quarter of 2020 as stability in the yellow category helped the sector stave off a heavier slump, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF)."Although 2020 was challenging in terms of logistics and travel, contrary to market expectations, fancy-color diamond prices proved to be resilient, with minor price decre...Read More

Base metals maintained their bullish momentum during the morning session on the London Metal Exchange on Monday February 15, with all except zinc hitting fresh year-to-date highs, despite the absence of Asian and United States trading. Tin rose by 1.5% to $24,095 per tonne in early trading, surpassing the 2021 high set on Friday, and up from Friday's closing price of $23,650 per tonne. This follow...Read More

RAPAPORT... India has recorded its third consecutive monthly rise in polished-diamond exports, with shipments increasing 9% year on year to $1.8 billion in January. That followed gains of 42% in November and 38% in December, reflecting a release of pent-up demand ahead of the US and Chinese holidays, as well as post-festival restocking. Rough imports jumped amid strong demand at Alrosa and De...Read More

RAPAPORT... Diamond and jewelry companies are accelerating their adoption of technology to bring greater efficiency to the market. As a result, innovation by businesses across all sectors of the pipeline is influencing the wider industry. The fifth installment of Rapaport's podcast series, "Technology and the Diamond Trade," sponsored by Sarine Technologies, features four companies that are m...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A fintech startup will tomorrow launch standardized diamond "coins" for investors in a move which could "reinvent the supply chain".Diamond Standard, based in Bermuda, will offer the first 5,000 diamond standard coins, each containing "a set of certified natural diamonds with identical geological scarcity" weighing 4.5 carats and to the exact value of $5,000.Each coin (pictured) al...Read More

Even with Chinese market participants on holiday, base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange have for the most part been bullish on Monday February 15, with the exception of zinc. Major western pre-market equity index futures were stronger. The dollar index was on a back foot while United States 10-year treasury yields were firmer, suggesting risk-on. Base metals The three-month zinc pri...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Prices of fancy color diamonds fell marginally for a second consecutive quarter says the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF).Blue gems were down year-on-year by 1.3 per cent, pinks 0.9 per cent and yellows 0.3 per cent in Q4 of 2020.The New York-based FCRF) has produced was unable to produce figures for Q1 and Q2 of the year, because business was too slow to provide sufficient d...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa sold $10m of rough at its first 2020 auction of special-size stones.The Russian state-owned miner described demand as "stable", although almost 20 per cent of lots weren't sold.It said it had buyers for 104 stones, all over 10.8 carats, with a combined weight of over 1,500 carats.Last week Alrosa reported total rough and polished sales of $430m for January, up six per c...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were fairly stable day on day on Monday February 15 due to good demand and long lead times, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?718.13 ($870.31) per tonne on Monday, down by ?,?1.87 per tonne from ?,?720 per tonne on February 12.The index was, however, up b...Read More

German flat steel producer Salzgitter has declared force majeure due to weather conditions that resulted in disruptions to deliveries, the company's spokesman told Fastmarkets on Monday February 15.The company hopes that the weather will improve in the middle of this week and that deliveries will start to run as normal.The Salzgitter-Beddingen freight station has been closed and shipments...Read More

Positive sentiment in the long steel market over the past week helped Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) producers to achieve wire rod sales at higher prices, sources said on February 15."Prices for wire rod have gone up after higher scrap bookings and more optimism in the market," one trader said. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey...Read More

Egypt's use of rebar was almost halved in January 2021, with the country consuming just 308,000 tonnes of the construction material - a 46.53% year on year drop from January 2019's 576,000 tonnes.El Marakby Steel's chief business development officer Ramy Saleh told Fastmarkets on Monday February 15 that, in January, rebar use was at its lowest level for more than 10 years...Read More