The price of steel H-beams across Europe remained unchanged on Thursday January 2, with many market participants not yet returning to work after Christmas, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?550-570 ($616-638) per tonne on January 2, unchanged from the previous assessment.Most market participants still remained...Read More
RAPAPORT... Israel has an opportunity to forge a new specialism in diamond synthesis as its polishing sector diminishes, according to a leading hi-tech executive and founder of a lab-grown venture.The country's once-thriving diamond-manufacturing industry has mostly shifted to India, with only a trading sector remaining, noted Benny Landa, a pioneer of digital printing and chairman of Israel-based...Read More
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe was largely unchanged on Thursday January 2, due to slow trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe, was largely stable at ?,?439.17 ($492.27) per tonne on Thursday January 2, compared with ?,?439.39 per tonne on December 31.Market activity has...Read More
RAPAPORT... Last year will go down as a difficult one for the diamond industry. While manufacturers took the biggest hit with thin profit margins, tight liquidity and excess supply, miners also suffered as rough demand slumped. Plenty of global events also affected the trade, from stock-market volatility to street protests in Hong Kong.The Rapaport Weekly Market Comment is a much-read summary of s...Read More
(IDEX Online News) - The old year ended with more of a fizzle than a bang, at least where polished diamond prices were concerned. December 2019 prices started at 120.90 and ended at almost the same point - 120.93 - with a slight dip mid-month. OutlookDemand for polished goods remained low in December, this was especially true for the larger, higher-priced items even though their p...Read More
RAPAPORT... For Andrea Hansen, a Blue Nile ad that ran during the 2015 holiday season perfectly captures the problem with jewelry retail. In it, a young man is looking at engagement rings through the window of a mom-and-pop store when a cringe-worthy salesman in a cheap suit bursts forth asking if he needs help. The gent promptly flees, and the point is made. (See video at end of article.)"Th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Auction site eBay has released its annual "Most Interesting and Expensive Purchases" of the year list. While watches and jewelry couldn't compete with the biggest buy on the site - the 20th annual power lunch with Warren Buffett to benefit GLIDE, which sold for: $4.6 million, they put in a good show. The top-selling jewelry items included a gold ring featuring a 5.01 yell...Read More
RAPAPORT... It was another big year for big diamonds, with several stones that raked in big bucks, set records, or otherwise made headlines. These were the stones that caught our attention in 2019.Biggest money makers1. Big blueIn November, Petra Diamonds sold a 20.08-carat, type IIb, gem-quality blue diamond recovered at its Cullinan mine in South Africa for $14.9 million, or $742,032 p...Read More
Gunnison mine, Arizona. Image from Excelsior. Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX: MIN) confirmed Thursday it has started mining operations at the Gunnison copper project in southern Arizona.Following a commissioning program that has been ongoing for several weeks, Excelsior received regulatory approval in late December to begin mining operations at Gunnison. Delivery of mining fluids to the copper orebo...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained quiet in the deep-sea scrap import market on Thursday January 2, with most suppliers staying out of the market due to the year-end holidays, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkey's deep-sea scrap import market has been silent since December 20, when a Baltic Sea cargo was booked at $303 per tonne cfr.Sentiment, however, has now turned negative becaus...Read More
The pig iron export market in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remained in holiday mode in the week to Thursday January 2. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $320-325 per tonne on Thursday January 2, up from $315-322 per tonne a week earlier.Suppliers...Read More
* Copper resistance at 100-week moving average of $6,245 * LME copper stocks at lowest since March 2018 (Updates with closing prices) By Pratima Desai LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose towardseight-month highs on Thursday as demand expectations wereboosted by economic measures in China and optimism that theworld's top metals consumer would also sign a preliminary tradedeal with the Unit...Read More
Iron ore prices advanced on Thursday January 2 despite a downturn in rebar and further production restrictions in China's steel hub of Tangshan.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $94.05 per tonne, up $1.92 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.14 per tonne, up $1.92 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $94.35 per tonne, up $1.81 per t...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Thursday January 2, with market participants still on the sidelines.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $140.69 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $148.77 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT:...Read More
Prices for 62% Fe iron ore experienced a gradual recovery as 2019 came to an end, rising to the $90-per-tonne level, while the high-grade 65% Fe segment even breached $100 per tonne.Traded volumes for the Singapore Exchange's 65% Fe futures contract, which is settled against Fastmarkets' daily index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao, amounted to 1.994 million tonnes in December....Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P500 futures were up 19 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were buoyed by another 1.15% gain by the Shanghai Composite Index to 3,085.20.Schlumberger added $0.24 to $40.44 after Stifel Nicolaus raised its target price to $47 from $45.Halliburton (HAL $24.42) is expected to open higher after Stifel Nicolaus raised its target price to...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher across morning trading on the first working day of the year on Thursday January 2, breaching nearby resistance amid high trading volumes, with zinc futures following higher.Copper's outright price on the LME was recently at $6,210 per tonne, climbing by around 0.6% from Tuesday's closing price of $6,174 per tonne, while turnover...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices were flat on Thursday January 2 although Tangshan announced short-term steelmaking restrictions to improve air quality. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,900-3,920 yuan ($560-563) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,640 yuan per tonne, unchangedA large number of steel mills in northern China's steel hub of Tangshan were instructed to implement...Read More
Cobalt hydroxide consumers will continue to have exposure to the spot market this year, with some of their requirements likely to be topped up from producer stocks held in Asian warehouses, sources told Fastmarkets. The creation of a nearby spot market has appeal in cutting the long shipping times, as well as reducing the potential for logistical difficulties and price risk associated with shippin...Read More
QUESTION: Marty, you laid out gold’s forecast back in October 2018 which has been amazing long-term. While you said if gold would rally after the Pi turning point from a bounce off the downtrend line, then it should rally into the bottom of the ECM. Will you now publish the gold report? I know you have been really busy. But it would be nice to hear from you. Socrates has been bullish since t...Read More