Spot trading sentiment in the global copper market is low this week with buyers cautious on the high copper price and backwardation, leaving premiums mostly stable except for a slight rise in Rotterdam, sources told Fastmarkets on March 2. The London Metal Exchange cash-to-three-month copper spread is in a $49.75-per-tonne backwardation on March 2Copper buyers are hesitant after the recent copper...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A dedicated "Made in India" page on eBay is being created to boost the country's global sale of gems and jewelry.It's part of an agreement between the trade body GJEPC - Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council - and an Indian eBay subsidiary.The aim is to help consumers find goods from India all together in one place.The eBay subsidiary ES Online Services will provid...Read More

Zinc premiums in Europe rose in the week to Tuesday March 2, with sellers taking advantage of a contango in the London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread and restricted availability of the galvanizing metal.US lead premium holds near eight-year highHigh freight costs pressure US zinc premiumPreliminary ILZSG estimates put the refined lead market in a 223,100-tonne surplus in 2020Fastmarkets an...Read More

Tata Steel Europe has announced that its chief commercial officer, chief technical officer and executive director of human resources will depart the company without being replaced.Karl Heider, CCO, and Ernst Hoogenes, CTO, will depart at the end of March while Tor Farquhar, the third...Read More

Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Europe moved further up over the week to Wednesday March 3, due to a coil shortage combined with strong demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?748.75 ($901.83) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?8.75 per tonne from ?,?740.00 per tonne on March 2.The index was...Read More

Hot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliDetailed mapping and geophysics is planned for the first half of 2021 in advance of first-pass drilling, with assay results pending for mapping and soil geochemical work already completed in December and January across Santiago Z.The Santiago Z ground is primarily contained within exploration leases privately held by the same Chi...Read More

ArcelorMittal has restarted blast furnace (BF) B at its Ghent plant in Belgium after completing a modernization, the steelmaker said on Wednesday March 3.Originally, the producer planned to resume the BF in mid-February but the restart was postponed due to severe weather conditions."The new BF, which was given an optimal shape, was completely re-lined and equipped with state of the art automation...Read More

Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipAuteco has the right ingredients with PickleSPONSOREDauteco mineralsAzure's Western Australia nickel success could get golden hueSPONSOREDazure mineralsHot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliThe company said yesterday it had issued about 9.4 million units priced at $3.30 per unit.It also said Gree...Read More

Hot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliState copper company Codelco's output rebounded strongly with a 19.4% increase to 142,000t from 118,900t a year ago led by a strong performance at its northern divisions, which grew production 39% to 69,400t.Conversely, production at BHP-operated Escondida fell 16% to 84,700t from 100,900t a year ago.Hot Chili knock, knock, knock...Read More

Nickel cash prices on the London Metal Exchange have retreated somewhat - returning to levels last seen in mid-February - but sentiment in the US stainless scrap market remains strong; participants were optimistic about improving demand and flows in the spring season, while supply tightness still supported prices. "The start of the demolition season is now upon us and could be a big help in genera...Read More

The Turkish steel mills have continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchasing activity and kept their focus on steel sales, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 3.The latest transaction was recorded late on February 26, when a steel mill in the Marmara region paid $456 per tonne cfr for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), which raised the daily scrap index for US-origin mate...Read More

A crackdown on industrial activity in Tangshan, China's steelmaking hub, is sending jitters throughout the sector. Fastmarkets examines what it means for the steel industry. Local authorities in the city issued a notice on the evening of Tuesday March 2 to say that it was embarking on a strict crackdown over March on industries that lag behind in terms of measures to lower emissions, with some act...Read More

Salesforce.com (CRM), a Dow Jones Industrial Average stock moved below $212.99 extending an intermediate downtrend.  Pre-opening Comments for Wednesday March 3rdU.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 future added 9 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved slightly lower following release off the March ADP Private Employment Report at 8:15 AM EST. Consensus was...Read More

Offer prices for bulk cargoes of steel scrap to China have continued to move upward in the past day, supported by price increases in China's local scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 3.Offers for Japanese heavy scrap (HS), which is equivalent to plate and structural (P&S) quality material, were heard at $510-515 per tonne cfr China on Wednesday.A Japanese trading house was he...Read More

Japanese export scrap prices have continued to increase following new deals to Vietnam, Taiwan and China, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 3."More offers are available now and exporters think now is the right time to make money on their scrap stocks," a Japanese scrapyard source said."The exchange rate is getting better so it's more favorable to sell scrap from the Japan mar...Read More

Coal export volumes from Australia's metallurgical coal hub of Queensland fell by 11.7% year on year in January 2021 and by 12.8% month on month, Fastmarkets understands.A total of 16.27 million tonnes of coal - including small volumes of thermal coal - were exported from Queensland in January 2021, compared with 18.43 million tonnes a year earlier and 18.66 million tonnes in December 2020, accord...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in fob markets declined on Wednesday March 3 after buyers lowered their bid prices due to negative short-term sentiment. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $124.68 per tonne, down $3.08 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.81 per tonne, up $0.50 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $117.66 per tonne, down $2.01 per to...Read More

Finance is often cloaked in arcane terminology and math, but the one dynamic that governs the future is actually very simple. Here it is:All debt is borrowed against future supplies of affordable hydrocarbons (oil, coal and natural gas).Since global economic activity is ultimately dependent on a continued abundance of affordable energy, it follows that all money borrowed against future income is a...Read More

The market is abuzz about the next round of fiscal stimulus coming from Washington, D.C., and the "reflation trade" is dominating the discussion. This trade involves buying commodities, energy, basic materials, base metals like copper... and hybrid monetary/industrial metals like silver.Of all metals, silver has the highest electrical conductivity. That makes it ideal for solar cells and electric...Read More

The beatings will continue until morale improves. The Hon. Jerome H. Mr. Powell, in statements this Tuesday:There is a long way to go to maximum employment... We live in a time where there is significant disinflationary pressures around the world and where essentially all major advanced economy's central banks have struggled to get to 2% (inflation). We believe we can do it, we believe we will do...Read More