The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Numerous ore and alloy markets enjoyed upward pricing momentum in the first half 2020, with supply-side constraints supporting prices despite collapsing demand from steelmakers and other key end users. While supply side issues related to Covid-19 lockdowns have been resolved,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.We do not consider the average iron ore fines price for September so far above $125 per tonne cfr Qingdao to be sustainable. The bullishness is not likely to last in the long term as we expect Chinese demand growth to slow down. A key factor boosting Chinese steel demand so far has been the stimulus policies from the authori...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While a world leader in many areas, the United States is a relatively small player when it comes to stainless steel. It produces a small amount of material, both in absolute and relative terms (i.e. compared to the size of its population), while a large share of its industry is in the hands of bigger European companies. Never...Read More
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
RAPAPORT... Asian Star's sales fell in the second fiscal quarter as the coronavirus pandemic continued to affect business for the Indian manufacturer of diamonds and jewelry.Group revenue - including at subsidiaries - slid 38% year on year to INR 4.98 billion ($67.3 million) in the three months ending September 30, the Mumbai-based company reported Friday. The sales decline was gentler than t...Read More
RAPAPORT... The pandemic and its impact on trade shows have forced the Plumb Club to help its members do business all year round, said president Michael Lerche.The coalition of 43 jewelry suppliers has been inextricably linked to the JCK Las Vegas show since the club's founding, Lerche explained in an interview on the Rapaport Diamond Podcast. With the 2020 fair canceled due to Covid-19 and t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A rare and exceptionally white eight-carat Golconda diamond has sold online for almost $1.5m.The Type IIa IF marquise-cut gem was described by sellers as "a full two shades whiter than the whitest diamond".It was recovered at the famed Golconda mines, in India, which operated in the 16th and 17th centuries, and produced diamonds of exceptional quality, clarity and whiteness due to...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pandora says it has no plans to permanently close any of its stores worldwide, despite coronavirus.The Danish jewelry retail giant, best known for its charm bracelets, also said been paying all its 28,000 staff in full throughout the pandemic, and would carry on doing so.Chief executive Alexander Lacik (pictured) told the BBC his stores were "incredibly profitable" and could "withs...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil increased in Northern Europe in the week to Friday November 6, due to good order books at European mills amid long lead times and limited offers for imported coil.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?512.53 ($608.52) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?7.53 per tonne week on week and by ?,?16.07 per t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Fugitive diamond billionaire Nirav Modi has suffered another blow in his legal bid to avoid extradition to India over an alleged $1.85bn fraud.A British court ruled that it would hear evidence against Modi from the Indian government, dismissing his lawyer's claim argument that it was not admissible.Modi, 49, (pictured) was India's most wanted man until he was arrested in...Read More
TradeCloud chief operating officer Matthew Botell says technology solutions are there to help commodity traders amid thinning margins and sliding credit availability, if market participants are just willing to give them a try.Botell - former Coo of Trafigura's metals and bulks division - set up the fintech company as a platform for securing commodity business in 2016 with Simon Collins who held th...Read More
Imports of standard P1020 aluminium to the United States from Canada continued to decline in September, while as demand for value-added products (VAP) has revived, US Census Bureau data shows.According to the data, imports of unalloyed, P1020 primary aluminium from Canada totalled 66,100 tonnes in September, down by 52.5% year-on-year and 48.7% compared with August. This was the thi...Read More
Pantoro bullish on bigger production profileSPONSOREDpantoro limitedGenesis opens new chapter at UlyssesSPONSOREDgenesis mineralsRemote Pitram deployment puts miners in the driver's seat Amid Covid ClosuresSPONSOREDmicromine'Best discovery in my time': De Grey on the march at HemiSPONSOREDde grey miningThe warning for the metals and bulks sector comes after last week's announcement fro...Read More
Metalex - an industrial aluminium recycling plant owned by Brazilian producer Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) - will invest 50 million Reais ($9.3 million) to increase scrap treatment and add to its extrusion billet production capacity, CBA said.The expansion project for its plant in Ara??ariguama, a city in southeast Brazil, is divided in to two phases.First, Metalex will install a side w...Read More
Alumina exports from Brazil in October were significantly down by 32.9% year on year after both Alunorte and Alumar shipped less material, data from the ministry of economy published on Friday November 6 shows.Exports totaled 500,888 tonnes in October, down from 746,998 tonnes a year before, the ministry's data showed.The most pronounced fall came from Alunorte, the refinery owned by Norwegian com...Read More