Export prices for steel slab from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) decreased in the week to Monday January 18 because customers were not ready to accept the levels being asked by mills amid weakening prices for finished flat steel products.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main port Turkey, was $730-800 per tonne on January 15, falling from $74...Read More

Prices for domestic steel hot-rolled coil increased in Europe in the week ended Friday January 15, due to limited availability of the material.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?716.00 ($864.56) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?48.50 per tonne week on week and by ?,?79.75 per tonne month on month.The calculation of the index was based on...Read More

The London Metal Exchange aluminium forward price was dented by almost 1% by a sizeable delivery of material to registered warehouses, while tin recorded the biggest increase at the 5pm close on Monday January 18. Tin's three-month price was up 0.6% on Monday at 5pm to $21,245 per tonne. The metal has rebounded from this year's low of $20,525 per tonne on January 11, and is edging closer to the Ja...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday January 18 that are worth another look.The prices of ferro-chrome imported into both Japan and South Korea have surprised the market by jumping to two-year highs because of a recent surge in spot prices in China, the largest importer of the...Read More

After a rapid rise of domestic steel prices across Europe in the second half of 2020, market sources have been voicing concerns that the situation will echo the scenario in 2008 of a price spike quickly followed by a sharp fall. Fastmarkets takes a look at the differences and similarities in the market situations of 2008 and 2020. Domestic prices for both flat and long steel products increased dra...Read More

The London Metal Exchange aluminium forward price was dented by almost 1% by a sizeable delivery of material to registered warehouses, while tin recorded the biggest increase at the 5pm close on Monday January 18. Tin's three-month price was up 0.6% on Monday at 5pm to $21,245 per tonne. The metal has rebounded from this year's low of $20,525 per tonne on January 11, and is edging closer to the Ja...Read More

The seaborne fob market moved up slightly for premium hard coking coal prices on Monday January 18 on firm demand and a limited number of cargoes on offer in the market, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $124.15 per tonne, up $0.24 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $208.69 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $101.54 per tonne, unchangedH...Read More

Iron ore prices increased on Monday January 18, supported by a news of a record-high GDP in China for 2020 and supply concerns after a fire at Vale's Ponta da Madeira terminal in northern Brazil.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.07 per tonne, up $0.38 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $174.66 per tonne, up $0.53 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade pr...Read More

The European spot ferro-silicon price, which widened up to ?,?1,300-1,200 per tonne on Friday January 15, should now be supported against any prompt demand from steelmakers that have agreed their first-quarter delivery settlements, sources said this week.They told Fastmarkets that the last time the price was this high was in November 2018. The market should also get support from suppliers kee...Read More

Mining at Vedanta Zinc International's South African zinc mine in Gamsberg has resumed after a two-month shutdown following a landfall at the project in November. Mining activity was stopped at Gamsberg on November 17 following the incident, which left 10 workers trapped in the landfall and one miner still missing. Vedanta, which acquired the Gamsberg mine in 2011 from Anglo American and operates...Read More

RAPAPORT... The two largest diamond miners increased prices at this week's rough sales as demand improved due to post-holiday restocking and strong trading ahead of the Chinese New Year.De Beers raised prices by an average of 4% to 5% at its first sight of 2021, while Alrosa's increases were around 6% to 7%, industry insiders told Rapaport News Monday. Both companies implemented steeper hikes...Read More

RAPAPORT... Michael Hill's sales slipped 2.8% in the first half of its fiscal year as a lockdown in Canada outweighed growth in the Australian market.Group revenue decreased to AUD 317.5 million ($243.6 million) during the six months ending December 27, as 21 of the company's 86 stores in Canada closed during the November-to-December period, the jeweler reported last week. A further 25 shops in th...Read More

RAPAPORT... Members of the US jewelry industry are happy overall with the level of racial justice and equality found across the trade, according to a diversity survey Jewelers of America (JA) and National Jeweler conducted.Nearly three-quarters of employers polled in the jewelry sector, and more than half of employees, reported their companies ranked very well when it came to these matters, JA sai...Read More

Treatment charges for spot market zinc concentrates were flat from one assessment to the next at low levels in the first half of January, with smelters and traders weighing seemingly limited short-term availability against expectations of a mined abundance later this year.Vedanta restarts mining at Gamsberg after fatal collapseTrevali to bring back Caribou after high price hedgesMiners offering bi...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Divorcee Christine Bonavita is giving away her wedding and engagement rings, with a combined value of over $3,500, to a deserving couple who faced adversities last year."I have seen such kindness out there in my darkest hour, so I know what it's like to struggle," she said.Christine, 39, from Norfolk, Virginia, USA, married in 2010, divorced a year ago, and is a marking the an...Read More

RAPAPORT... Diamond and jewelry companies have raised the stakes when it comes to using online platforms to engage with clients and consumers. But what does it mean to be digitally relevant in today's ever-changing e-commerce and social-media space?In the first episode of Rapaport's podcast series, "Technology and the Diamond Trade," sponsored by Sarine Technologies, Rapaport Senior Analyst A...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Mothae mine in Lesotho has been closed for a second time by coronavirus.The country is in a 14-day lockdown as it suffers an unprecedented spike in infections.The deposit, jointly operated by Australian miner Lucapa and the Lesotho government, closed last March, largely as a precaution.The pandemic had barely touched the tiny landlocked nation at the time, but earlier this mont...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Signet enjoyed a 61 per cent surge in e-commerce over the holiday season.Total sales for the nine-week period in 2020 were $1.8bn, the same as the previous year, according to its preliminary trading update.The emphasis is shifting from bricks and mortar, with the closure of 355 stores in lower-traffic shopping malls and the expansion of online channels as an alternative.Signet, the...Read More

Britannia Global Markets' application to become a category 2 broking member of the London Metal Exchange has been approved by the exchange, its parent company said on Monday January 18.The admission will take place in the first week of February, according to Britannia Financial Group, which has several investment and banking arms including Britannia Global Markets.Britannia Global Markets was prev...Read More

A delivery of over 100,000 tonnes of aluminium into warehouses across the London Metal Exchange network should be supportive of wider contangos and higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets.A total of 112,400 tonnes was delivered into LME warehouses across Asia on January 18. The biggest delivery was in Gwangyang, South Korea where 62,500 tonnes were delivered in. This is the first-tim...Read More