The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Monday February 24, with price action down by 2.4% and trading at its lowest level since July 2016, while copper futures also fell through nearby support levels. Zinc's outright price on the LME recently traded at $2,059 per tonne on Monday morning, falling from an intra-morning high of $2,101 per tonne, wh...Read More

Broader markets are seeing risk-off while they focus on the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) this morning, Monday February 24, after the number of cases and deaths escalated outside of China, especially in South Korea.China remains in a very difficult position as it needs to ramp-up the return to work, while at the same time the virus is not contained. China exported $60 billion of auto...Read More

Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down at the close of the morning trading session on Monday February 24, with sentiment hit by a spike in novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) cases over the weekend.Currently, China has reported a total of 77,345 confirmed cases of the virus and 2,592 deaths so far, according to figures from the country's National Health Commission. But it...Read More

Cold-heading quality (CHQ) wire rod prices have fallen following February's lower ferrous scrap settlement, while the cost of high-carbon rod is stable, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' assessment for steel wire rod cold-heading quality (CHQ), ddp was at $37.50 per hundredweight ($750 per short ton) on Friday February 21, down by 1.3% from $38 per cwt last month. The cost of Chicago No1...Read More

Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States have again risen above $29 per hundredweight ($580 per short ton), and sources told Fastmarkets they believe prices will be rangebound in the near term.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $29.09 per cwt ($581.80 per ton) on Monday February 24, up by 1.4% from $28.70 per cwt on Friday February 21 and...Read More

Steel plate prices in the United States have held steady, with mills floating the idea of issuing price increases in an effort to kick-start forward buying. Market participants reported that some plate producers have discussed the idea of issuing hikes but may hold off and let sheet mills attempt a foray first. Others said the economic impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak woul...Read More

RAPAPORT... Revenue from the retail division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway rose 2.5% to $16 billion in 2019, the company reported Saturday.The increase for the segment, which includes jewelry chains Borsheims, Helzberg Diamonds and Ben Bridge Jeweler, was boosted primarily by the company's car business. Pretax earnings for the entire retail unit grew 1.6% to $874 million for the year...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp.'s sales rose in 2019 as the miner sold a higher volume of rough from its Karowe mine in Botswana.Proceeds for the year increased 9% to $192.5 million, exceeding the company's $170 million to $180 million forecast, it said Monday. A 17% increase in sales volume to 411,732 carats offset a 7% decline in the average price to $468 per carat.Lucara had a strong year...Read More

  (IDEX Online) - Lucara reports a higher-than-forecast eight per cent hike in sales, boosted by some big-stone discoveries at its Karowe mine, in Botswana. Total revenues were $192.5 million (2018: $176.2 million) it said today in its annual results for 2019. Volume of sales was up 17 per cent to 411,732 carats, more than making up for a seven per cent decline in the average price of $468 pe...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Over 15,000 visitors attended the IIJS Signature and the India Gem & Jewellery Machinery Expo, in Mumbai. There were many "serious buyers" despite the challenges of coronavirus and the global slowdown, said Colin Shah, vice chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) which organised the events, from 13 to 16 February. They attracted more than 700 exhib...Read More

While the results of an auction of predominantly commercial-quality rough emeralds held in Lusaka, Zambia, from February 18 to 21, had been in line with prior auctions of commercial-quality emeralds, and demonstrated a stable underlying market, there was evident fallout of Covid-19, or the coronavirus, which dampened what might otherwise have been a buoyant result, Gemfields product and sales MD A...Read More

Vancouver-headquartered Lucara Diamond Corp achieved strong operating results for the year ended December 31, a reflection of the company’s continued focus on safe, reliable operations, president and CEO Eira Thomas said in a statement.She indicated that the company’s strategy had yielded increased productivity at lower costs and provided a solid foundation to support Lucara’s ne...Read More

ASX-listed Lucapa Diamond Company says further analysis of diamonds recovered at its Lulo project, in Angola, has confirmed the presence of rare Type IIa gems and light fancy yellow diamonds.This follows after the company earlier this week announced the recovery of 45 diamonds weighing 30.3 ct from a stream bulk sample that was taken from the Canguige tributary draining into the Cacuilo river vall...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market went quiet at the beginning of the week, with no significant bookings heard, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday February 24.The Turkish steel producers booked eight deep-sea cargoes at rising prices last week, totaling some 250,000 tonnes.However, market participants believe prices have now stabilized, and no further changes are expected...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices have continued to increase over the past week in response to rising imported scrap values, market sources said on Monday February 24.Prices for imported scrap have been climbing in recent weeks on demand from Turkish steel producers. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was $284.04 per tonne on February 21, up from $274...Read More

Rising imported ferrous scrap prices in Turkey provided upward momentum to global scrap prices during the working week ended Friday February 21, with prices in most major import destinations surging due to the boost in demand.Turkish import scrap prices rise on buying spreeUS export scrap prices push upward on fresh Turkish dealsTaiwan import scrap prices surge on higher freight costs, Vietnam pri...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices were largely steady on Monday February 24 following an upward trend last week, with market participants contemplating the direction of prices for this week.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.88 per tonne, down $0.37 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.82 per tonne, down $0.34 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $79.72...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesAltiplano said it planned to advance the Hugo decline up to 53m vertically below the 395m level and allow it to access a potential 200,000 tonnes of copper-gold mineralised material."We are excited to move the project forward as we work on this expansion and the development and building of the onsite processing facility," rece...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were flat on Monday February 24, with market participants waiting for new drivers to emerge in China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.20 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.13 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $141.63 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $149.44 per tonne, unchangedA co...Read More

Anglo American has revised its metallurgical coal production guidance for 2020 to 19-21 million tonnes, down by 2 million tonnes from an earlier guidance of 21-23 million tonnes, the miner said late last week.The lower guidance is due to a roof collapse at its Moranbah North mine in Queensland,...Read More