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.The outbreak of coronavirus, the oil price crash and the impending global recession present an enormous challenge for energy and natural resources. How are you keeping up with the spread of Covid-19 and its impact on your sector?We&rs...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.The coronavirus pandemic has had a massive impact on every part of the global economic system. In response, unprecedented stimulus measures have boosted many countries’ debt-to-GDP ratios to levels not seen since WWII. But even...Read More

Spot demand for cobalt metal has remained at minimal levels in recent weeks, leading market participants to question the level of discount that would be achievable in the forthcoming "mating season."Sellers confirmed on Monday October 19 that consumers continued to take any additional requirements of metal from long-term contracts, enjoying discounted prices arranged last year.This has left only t...Read More

RAPAPORT... The board of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has elected Chaim Pluczenik as president, a spokesperson for the trade organization said Monday.Pluczenik, owner of Antwerp-based dealer Pluczenik Diamond Company, replaces Nishit Parikh, who chose not to run for reelection following two years in the position. The new vice presidents are Bart De Hantsetters, representing the man...Read More

RAPAPORT... Production at Gahcho Ku?(C) rose in the third quarter as Mountain Province mined from a higher-grade portion of the deposit.Ore from the asset yielded 2.19 carats of rough diamonds per tonne in the three months ending September 30, 27% higher than the same period a year ago. Total output rose 17% to 1.8 million carats, Mountain Province, which owns 49% of the asset, said last week. De...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales at Luk Fook slumped in the second fiscal quarter as the Hong Kong-based jeweler suffered from a continued slowdown in tourism and local demand in its home city.Group-wide same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - fell 55% year on year during the three months ending September 30, the retailer reported Friday. This reflected a 63% slide in Hong Kong and Ma...Read More

The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday October 19, rallying by more than 2.5% against positive forward spreads and robust demand.Meanwhile, a firm contango for LME tin resulted in high trading volumes pushing the metal's outright price to a 14-month high.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,491 per tonne on M...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Two pieces of diamond jewelry given by Queen Victoria to her goddaughters around 150 years ago are to be auctioned in England.The first lot is a locket (pictured) gifted to aristocrat Lady Victoria Scott on her wedding in 1865, which is set with diamonds, emeralds and rubies.The second is a 19th century pearl and diamond brooch/pendant given to Lady Victoria's daughter Victori...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lab-grown diamonds should be sold with second-tier reports, giving details of their manufacture, rather than 4C gradings, says CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation.It is keen to preserve the distinction between manufactured diamonds and natural stones - for which "rarity is a critical factor".CIBJO has released a Laboratory Grown Diamond Guidance document, the final stage of a...Read More

IDEX Online) - Exports of polished diamonds from India, the world's biggest producer, could fall by as much as a quarter, from $18.665bn in the year to March 2020. Colin Shah, chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, warned they could reach the lowest levels since the global depression of 2008/9. India's diamond industry, which accounts for 90 per cent of gems cut an...Read More

Recycled copper and aluminium that meet China's standards for renewable metals instead of solid waste can be freely imported into the country starting from November 1, according to the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The customs commodity codes of recycled copper raw materials and recycled cast aluminium alloy raw materials are 7404000030 and 7602000020 respectively, the ministry said...Read More

With the caveat that he was making "a strange presentation in a strange year," ED&F Man's Ed Meir described the recent rebound in the London Metal Exchange three-month nickel as "stunning" during the LME Week metals debate on Monday October 19. LME nickel futures are currently trading up 40% on the $11,142-per-tonne year-to-date low hit on March 23 when Covid-19 industrial shutdown measures sent s...Read More

Canada-based Lundin Mining Corp is to suspend operations at its Candelaria copper mine in Chile after mediation talks with a second union at the site failed to result in an agreement .Around 550 workers represented by the Candelaria AOS Union can now legally strike from October 20. They will join around 350 members of the Mine Workers Union who began industrial action at Candelaria on Oc...Read More

The price of lead is down 23% year-on-year and its weak long-term outlook means it will continue to underperform going into 2021, Tom Mulqueen, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading, said.Speaking at this year's virtual LME Week, Mulqueen said the high level of London Metal Exchange stocks and a lack of strong speculative support are also pressuring the lead price."Long-term, lead lacks th...Read More

In the next 30 years, global demand for both aluminium and steel is likely to double. Against industry calls for a cleaner, more forward-looking supply-chain, however, the chairman and chief executive of GFG Alliance, Sanjeev Gupta, sees climate change as the key accelerator for a sustainability-led reinvention of the sector.Delivering his welcoming address at this year's virtual LME Week seminar,...Read More

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States held steady in a week that ended with SSAB Americas issuing its sixth price increase in five months.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was unchanged at $29.50 per hundredweight ($590 per short ton) on Friday October 16. The assessment is down 7.8% in 2020 notwithstanding all the p...Read More

CIS export prices for steel billet inched upward on Monday October 19 amid higher costs for steelmaking raw materials, particularly scrap, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was calculated at $410 per tonne on Monday, up by $2 per tonne from Friday.Market participants reported offers within the range of $415-420 per tonne fob Black Sea, against...Read More

The mood in the Northern European hot-rolled coil market remained positive on Monday October 19, supported by good order books at domestic mills, a lack of competitive imports and solid end-user demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?496.67 ($581.72) per tonne on Monday October 19, up by just ?,?0.84 p...Read More

Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann, chief executive officer of German steelmaker Salzgitter, will retire in mid-2021, the company said on Saturday October 17. Fuhrmann will remain in the position of CEO until his employment contract ends on June 30, 2021, the company confirmed. "Chief executive officer Prof Dr-Ing Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann will have reached the...Read More

Offer prices for domestic steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow increased as expected this week, although buyers said it was hard to pass them on to downstream customers, sources said on Monday October 19.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia was 40,000-41,000 roubles ($514-527) per tonne on October 1...Read More