The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Having found it easier to increase prices than their counterparts in Europe and the United States during the past few months, Asian stainless steelmakers now face a number of concerns.In the short term, Asian prices have moved down in recent weeks while those in Europe and the US are on the up. This is mostly a reflection of...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. A look at stainless steel price movements through August reveals the ongoing battle being faced by stainless steelmakers in Europe and the United States while they try to pass on rising costs to consumers. In these regions, prices on most grades of stainless steel are little changed from July, rising by around 2% at most -...Read More
The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we enter the summer season across the northern hemisphere, almost half a year has passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began to seriously affect Europe and the United States.One would not really be able to tell that such a dramatic event had occurred by looking at stainless steel prices, however, because they are more or less...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are relatively stable this month, showing little change since our previous tracker. Such stability masks growing issues for stainless steelmakers, however, who are increasingly unable to pass on rising costs to consumers and are, thus, facing cuts to their margins.In general, this is due to an excess of...Read More
The three-month price of tin on the London Metal Exchange was the laggard at the close of trading on Monday October 26, losing just under 2% of its price against the highest daily volume count since September 23, while selling pressure saw the LME copper price sink below nearby support levels over the afternoon.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $18,050 per tonne on Monday, recovering from...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil across Europe were fairly stable over the week to Friday October 23, but the mills were expected to increase their spot-market offer prices soon.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?496.67 ($588.80) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?0.84 per tonne week on week and by ?,?9.06 per tonne month on month...Read More
RAPAPORT... The week of September 14 was as momentous as they come for Yoram Dvash. The 56-year-old head of the Israel Diamond Exchange was elected president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), having served as its interim leader since April, while his office facilitated the biennial World Diamond Congress (WDC) taking place for the first time via Zoom.Meanwhile, the historic Abraha...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has extended its current sightholder contract by three months after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the renewal process.The supply agreement, originally due to expire on December 31, will remain in place until March 31, 2021, a De Beers spokesperson told Rapaport News Monday. This means the contract will now cover the first three sights of next year, which are scheduled t...Read More
RAPAPORT... The quarterly Diamond Trends Webinar that took place on October 22 outlined the key developments the trade should look out for during the holiday season and 2021.Rapaport Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz provides context regarding how Covid-19 has impacted the market during the first 10 months of the year, along with an overview of polished prices and the supply-demand dynamic that determine...Read More
RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds plans to sell a portion of its inventory next month to assess the prices it can secure for its rough stones as the market begins to recover.The miner is holding 64,700 carats of rough from its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho, which has been on care and maintenance since April due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will separate those into at least two parcels and place them o...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has awarded the 2020 Cindy Edelstein scholarship to California-based jewelry designer Olivia Shih.The $5,000 grant - named for the jewelry consultant and author, who died in 2016 - is given to emerging fine-jewelry designers or artisans, WJA said last week. It can be used to pursue jewelry-design, metalsmith, or business courses that focus on impro...Read More
RAPAPORT... Christie's will offer a brooch by Graff containing a 107.46-carat, fancy-yellow diamond at its Geneva Magnificent Jewels auction.The piece, which features the brilliant-cut stone surrounded by white diamonds, is estimated to fetch up to CHF 3.3 million ($3.6 million) at the November 10 sale, Christie's said last week.A pair of earrings, each containing a pear-shaped white diamond as we...Read More
Aurubis, Europe's largest copper producer, sees its multi-metal strategy as a competitive advantage against a backdrop of precarious market conditions, with executive chairman to the board Roland Harings highlighting the company's acquisition and integration of Belgian-Spanish recycler Metallo as a step change in optimizing production. Despite pandemic-related setbacks, the German-based producer o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A ring set with a pear-shaped 12.38-carat VVS2 fancy pink diamond was sold to an online bidder for $4.6m by Sotheby's. The pink gem was flanked by by two pear-shaped white diamonds, both D color and IF, weighing 0.52 and 0.51 carats. The estimate was $4m to $5m. It was the star lot in a hybrid live/online auction in New York, Sotheby's first sale with bidders in attendanc...Read More
Fastmarkets' research team took the number one spot on the base metals predictions leaderboard for the third quarter of 2020 with a 98.83% accuracy score while ED&F Man Capital Markets' Edward Meir clinched the top spot for precious metals predictions over the period with a 93.31% accuracy rating. For steel raw materials, ABN Amro's Casper Burgering was number one with an accuracy score of 89.47%....Read More
RAPAPORT... Kering's jewelry brands performed well in the third quarter of 2020 amid a recovery in the luxury-goods market in the Asia-Pacific region."Despite their significant exposure to Western Europe and Japan, the jewelry houses held up well," the luxury group said last week.Sales were bolstered by the growth of the group's Boucheron brand in Asia Pacific as demand in the region began to rebo...Read More
There was a surge in buying activity in the Chinese copper scrap market in the second half of October after the release of a long-awaited announcement that the purchase of high-purity scrap will be permitted as a recyclable copper material from next month. "Everyone has returned to the market to buy [non-ferrous scrap] since the announcement," a trader source said. With overseas copper scrap more...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is streamlining its manufacturing operations, which are currently run as three separate entities.The Russian state-owned miner says the creation of a single production framework will allocate diamond output more efficiently between three sites, and allow them to provide mutual back-up if the pandemic forces further closures.Between them they currently account for half of the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The future of Canada's Diavik mine is in doubt after a deal to rescue Dominion, its troubled minority-owner, fell through.Dominion stopped making payments to DDMI, the Rio Tinto subsidiary that operates the deposit, when it filed for insolvency protection in April. It currently owes over US$90m.DDMI says it can't afford to make preparations for the harsh winter, jus...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the LME were lower in morning trading on Monday October 26, with tin suffering the most after doubts emerged over the US coronavirus stimulus package and with a steady uptick in the US dollar index. Tin's outright price on the London Metal Exchange was recently trading at $17,865 per tonne on Monday morning, down by just under 3% from Friday's closing price o...Read More