CAPE TOWN – Angolan State-owned diamond mining company Endiama plans to sell as much as 30% of its shares in an initial public offering in 2022.The sale is part of a government plan to increase transparency in the diamond sector and bolster production, chairperson Jose Manuel Ganga Junior said in an interview in Cape Town. Angola is the world’s seventh-biggest diamond producer.Advertis...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in Turkey fell in the week to Friday February 7, with demand still limited because buyers were waiting for some clear direction before placing orders.Scrap prices also continued to fall, with Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was $252 per tonne on February 6, down from $263.54 per tonne on January 31.HRC export...Read More

The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap in the UK domestic market widened upwards on slightly firmer nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 7. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?750-790 ($972-1,024) per tonne on Friday, up...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes at the end of the week to replenish their low stock levels, sources said on Friday February 7.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo at $260 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), although the cargo breakdown was not clear at the time of publication.This compares with a previous US cargo sold at a similar price on Thursd...Read More

The price of ferrous scrap imported into India dropped further this week, although trading was more active, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 7.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $284.44 per tonne on Friday, down from $291.99 per tonne one week before, marking the fourth consecutive week of price decreases.This week, deals ha...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices continued to be buoyed by cyclone-led port impacts in Western Australia on Friday February 7, while doubts remained among Chinese market participants about steelmaking demand. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.59 per tonne, up $0.42 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.92 per tonne, up $0.42 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cf...Read More

Trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market suggested that prices for the steelmaking raw material were still holding up despite bearish sentiment in China for steel demand due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $151.58 per tonne, up by $0.93 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $160.61 per tonne,...Read More

Contract cancellations amid an ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China and beyond are making for a buyer's market for ferrous scrap in Asia. VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $267-269 per tonne cfr on Friday February 7, down by $11-16 per tonne from $278-285 per tonne cfr Vietnam a week earlier.Deep-sea bulk carg...Read More

Australia's Port of Dampier in Western Australia state is being shut down at noon local time on Friday February 7 in preparation for a potential impact from a tropical cyclone that is expected to intensify during the day.The Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) said during the day that its cyclone response procedure has been activated and with it, the Port of Dampier will be shut down, having already bee...Read More

The broad-based rally across markets that started on Monday finally halted this morning and consolidation is setting in. And, given there is still so much uncertainty around the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a pause for reflection seems logical.This is especially so for the metals markets, with China such a big player on both the demand and supply side of the equation and where dema...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices remained unchanged on Friday February 7 amid weak trading despite an expected rise in construction activity from next week.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,360-3,400 yuan ($481-487) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,560 yuan per tonne, unchangedMany construction projects in Shanghai are scheduled to resume work next week, though a few of them have put o...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the January employment report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for January Non-farm Payrolls was 165,000 versus 145,000 in December. Actual was 225,000. Consensus for January Unemployment Rate was unchanged from December at 3.5%. Actual...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices dropped further on Friday February 7 amid thin trading in the domestic market, which led at least one mill to export at prices much lower than the market average to draw down stock levels.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,540-3,550 yuan ($510-512) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,250-3,270 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneMost s...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month zinc price was trading down 1.2% on the previous day's close at around $2,179.50 per tonne during the morning session on Friday February 7, following a 10,100-tonne fresh inflow of the metal into LME-approved sheds in Vlissingen in the Netherlands.This was versus a much lesser 375-tonne outflow of material from Rotterdam and Vlissingen, leaving LME global zinc...Read More

An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More

A summary of the financial results for Belgian battery-materials manufacturer Umicore in 2019.In brief The company grew revenues and recurring earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) in catalysis despite the global recession in the automotive market, resulting from market share gains in light duty gasoline applications and increasing penetration of gasoline particulate filters in Europe and Chin...Read More

Moving into 2020, cobalt metal, salts and hydroxide prices have been well supported in January on solid demand and producers' firm offers, while spot activity in China has slowed since mid-January due to the Lunar New Year holiday and Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.Price movesTraders and consumers actively restocking boosted the benchmark standard-grade cobalt prices at the very beginning of January,...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, the United States and Asia for the week ending Friday February 7. China  Coronavirus-related raw material supply disruptions and road transport restrictions pushed up domestic price.  Tightened road transport measures made it hard to find trucks to deliver alloy from smelters to stainless steel mills, sources said.  Trading activity in U...Read More

The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market remained unchanged this week, despite weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 7. Many market participants expect prices to fall in March because of recent weakness in the nickel market (despite nickel prices actually moving up slightly this week). But this expectation...Read More

Bluestone Resources (TSXV: BSR; US-OTC: BBSRF) has entered into a US$30 million credit facility led by the French financial services firm Natixis."We were very pleased to receive support from Natixis and the Lundin family," says Darren Klinck, Bluestone's president. "The credit facility is the first stage of financing and represents a strong endorsement of the Cerro Blanco gold project."Natixis is...Read More