Bangladeshi steel mills are expected to return to the deep-sea market for steel scrap in bulk and containers in the coming weeks, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 28.Purchasing activity in Bangladesh has been extremely slow over the past three weeks, with demand decimated by the Ramadan period and the country's continuing Covid-19 lockdown.But signs of life are returning after Eid-a...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Police had to intervene after hundreds of merchants broke social distancing rules by gathering at Varaccha Diamond Market, in Surat. Industry bodies have been urging their members to stay away from Varaccha and the nearby Mahidapura market, where diamonds are traded for export via Mumbai. Authorities in Surat (pictured), the cut-and-polish hub, have allowed factories and workshops...Read More

(IDEX Online) - South Africa's small state-owned diamond miner Alexkor is trading recklessly and will run out of money within a month, a parliamentary committee heard.The company, which operates around Alexander Bay (pictured), on the country's West Coast, is technically insolvent, warned former administrator Lloyd McPatie."I propose as a department that we need to look at liquidati...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A 12.11-carat blue diamond ring could fetch $12.25m as the highlight of the first live Christie's auction since lockdown.The marquise-cut stone, described as an internally flawless fancy intense blue, will go under the hammer on 9 July at the Magnificent Jewels Auction in Hong Kong, which was postponed from 2 June.Sales have been taking place online since lockdown was introduc...Read More

Rio Tinto is considering a move into industrial-scale scandium oxide production after developing a pilot plant and seeing strong interest in the market, the company said this week. The potential timing, scale and investment in the industrial production of the rare earth metal - which is deemed a critical mineral in the United States, Canada, Australia and the European Union - are all bei...Read More

Global commodities miner-marketer Glencore will continue to take a disciplined approach to ensuring that it does not overproduce at a time of declining demand for some materials, the company's chief executive officer has said.Glencore prioritizes value over volume when it comes to production, Ivan Glasenberg said, pointing to its moves to reduce capacity in past cycles when supply has outweighed d...Read More

Japanese carmaker Nissan intends to close three plants at its Nissan Barcelona operations in Spain from December 2020, the company said on Thursday May 28. The units affected will be at Zona Franca, Montcada and Sant Andreu."The plan, presented after a lengthy study of options for Nissan's Barcelona operations, is now subject to consultation with workers' representatives," Nissan said.The company'...Read More

Aluminium producer Alcoa said it has started a consultation period for a collection dismissal process for staff, as well as the possible shutdown, of its San Cipri??n aluminium smelter in Spain."Alcoa met today with the representatives of the workers of San Cipri??n to inform them of the serious circumstances and of the unsustainable situation that the aluminium plant is going through due to inher...Read More

The China alumina market split into different directions this week with higher deals pulling up the high end while weak demand from other aluminium producers dragged the low end down, sources said on Thursday May 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina metallurgical grade, ddp China was 2,150-2,250 yuan ($300-314) per tonne on May 28, widening on both sides from 2,180-2,230 yuan per to...Read More

Peruvian copper and gold mining projects could return to full swing in the third quarter 2020 after a national lockdown led to significant disruptions and a sharp drop in export earnings, a local organization said. Peru, the second-largest copper and zinc producer in the world, is estimated to suffer a loss of $4-5 billion in absolute terms due to the coronavirus pandemic-led lockdown, the Institu...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have moved above $25 per hundredweight ($500 per short ton) for the first time in more than seven weeks on expectations of higher scrap costs and cautious optimism about improving demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $25.21 per cwt ($504.20 per ton) on Thursday May 28, up by 1.6% from $24.82 per cwt on Wedn...Read More

While increased domestic flat steel prices could invite more imports into the United States, according to market participants, preliminary Census data shows that shipments of finished steel products in April declined on a year-on-year basis.Domestic flat-rolled steel prices have gone up in the past two weeks as a result of higher scrap costs, slowly recovering demand and mills' second attempt to r...Read More

The European Commission (EC) has received a request for a review of existing anti-dumping measures applied to hot-rolled coil products from Russian steelmaker Severstal, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 28.The EC set definitive duties on HRC from Russia at a fixed rate of ?,?17.60 ($19.33) per tonne in October 2017. The Russian steelmaker was assigned the lowest rate of duty am...Read More

ArcelorMittal has restarted operations in the hot zone at its Zenica plant in Bosnia this week, and plans to re-open the rolling mills in June, the company's spokesperson told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 28.Last week, ArcelorMittal decided to pause its Bosnian operations for 10 days due to a sharp drop in steel demand in the region.The company put its blast furnace, wth capacity for 1.1 million to...Read More

NEW TOOLS IN ITS LATEST MICROMINE UPGRADESPONSOREDmicromineCardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesRiveros said a reduction of personnel at mining operations and the suspension of projects cut output.In a video presentation,...Read More

NEW TOOLS IN ITS LATEST MICROMINE UPGRADESPONSOREDmicromineCardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesSandfire acquired the Tshukudu project via the takeover of MOD Resources late last year and set an initial A$10-12 million bud...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe company has also undertaken a 25:1 share consolidation reducing its share count to 64.4 million. Its shares now trade on the TSX exchange under the ticker MARI.Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for April Durable Goods Orders was a drop of 19.0% versus a decline of 16.6% in March. Actual was a drop of 17.2%. Excluding Transportation Orders, April Durable Goods Orders was a drop of...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices increased slightly on news of fresh cargo deals heard on Thursday May 28.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $246 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of shredded at $251 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $256 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the same region...Read More

Seaborne iron ore went up on Thursday May 28 with mid-grade iron ores such as Newman fines and Pilbara Blend fines from Australia performing well, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $97.09 per tonne, up $1.72 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $98.89 per tonne, up $0.89 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:...Read More