The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices have fared relatively well over the past couple of months in the face of the threat from the Covid-19 pandemic.In grade-304 material, the most common grade of stainless steel, prices were down by about 5-7% since the turn of the year - not bad, when compared with the falls in prices of other assets so f...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Having first hit Asia during early 2020, the Covid-19 viral outbreak is now having an even bigger impact on European countries and the US. Widespread lockdown measures have been put in place on people and industry, and economic activity has slowed markedly.For now, stainless steel markets in Europe and the US are yet to show...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe have inched down over the past week due to a lack of buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 3.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?402.00 ($448.48) per tonne on Wednesday, down by ?,?1.00 per tonne from ?,?403.00 per tonne on Tuesday.Wednesday's index was calculated bas...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Rising stocks of concentrate, high treatment charges and difficulties in selling less desirable qualities of concentrate was expected to result in mine production losses over the next few years. But coronavirus has changed this dynami...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) has introduced a service that determines a pearl's species using DNA fingerprinting.The Basel-based laboratory has substantially expanded its database and capabilities, enabling it to identify each of the eight oyster species that account for the vast majority of gems available in the natural- and cultured-pearl trade, it said Tuesday. It ac...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has completed a rights issue that successfully raised AUD 5.25 million ($3.6 million) to fund its search for the kimberlite source of its high-value alluvial stones.The proceeds will help the miner excavate and process the first kimberlite samples from the Lulo area in Angola, where the company's alluvial mine has produced several large diamonds in recent ye...Read More

Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil have moved down over the past week in Northern Europe due to poor trading activity in the region, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 3.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?490-500 ($547-558) per tonne on June 3, down by ?,?10 per tonne week on week from ?,?500-510 per tonne ex-works.The a...Read More

RAPAPORT...  Alrosa sold 102 large rough diamonds at its latest digital tender, noting that there was still demand for its goods despite the coronavirus crisis."The results of the digital tender's first round show that demand for rough diamonds persists [in] the market, and our clients are ready to buy diamonds through the online channel," Alrosa deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev said in a statement...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Disruptions to the metals markets, as well as the sentiment change due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), have dominated metals markets and price movements so far in 2020. The metals markets are moving faster than ever driven by announcem...Read More

Prices for lead and zinc scrap were largely flat this week while businesses slowly ramp up to pre-Covid-19 capacity.Fastmarkets' assessment for the lead scrap whole batteries buying price, delivered smelters US, which narrowed upward to 31-33 cents per lb from 29-33 cents per lb, was the only assessment...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers has confirmed that Sight 5 will take place as planned, and says Sight holders will be able to attend in South Africa or Namibia if they're unable to travel to Botswana.The move comes after Sight 4, held as usual in Gabarone in early May, saw sales activity virtually wiped out by COVID-19 and the resulting travel restrictions.  Sight 3, at the end of March, was ca...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa's long-term clients bought 102 of more than 800 large rough diamonds offered in the company's biggest ever digital tender.The remaining stones will now be made available to other customers to select from 5-10 carats batches.For the first time, the Russian state-owned miner sold diamonds online from boxes, piece by piece, in response to COVID-19 restrictions.It prov...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Workers in Minneapolis fled in terror when looters threw a rock through their jewelry store window. A dozen staff were stashing valuables in a safe at R.F. Moeller Jewelers, in St. Paul, when company president Bob Moeller received a text warning from police that a mob was approaching. They escaped through a back door as looters smashed their way in with sledgehammers. The company&#...Read More

The closure of the arbitrage window between London and Shanghai prompted a drop in Chinese zinc premiums in the week to Tuesday June 2, while broad stagnancy in European and US demand kept premiums firm, although some market participants anticipate that demand could further weaken in the coming months. Cif Shanghai premium dipped as demand diminished in line with arbitrage window's close Sout...Read More

A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday June 3.Please click...Read More

Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange had moved sideways at the close of trading on Wednesday June 3, with most of the complex maintaining gains made earlier in the week against a steady improvement in risk-appetite.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,524 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, while turnover was moderate at just over 15,000 lots exchanged by the close. Similarly, L...Read More

Fastmarkets is launching a two-month consultation on the launch of new copper material price and the potential discontinuation of its monthly assessment of the No2 copper scrap discount on a cif China basis.Under a new categorization policy being introduced in China, most No2 scrap could be traded as renewable copper materials starting from July 2020. Background to the consultationA...Read More

Global nickel premiums were mostly static in the week to Tuesday June 2, with the exception of the delivered Midwest premium in the United States, where oversupply and weak demand saw the range soften, while a strong London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price kept consumption limited.Cheaper global supply caps US domestic briquette interestThin liquidity limits European marketArb losses hamper...Read More

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 has hit the Antofagasta region of Northern Chile, which is home to a cluster of major copper mines, Fastmarkets understands.The US Geological Survey said the earthquake occurred in the early morning local time on Wednesday June 3, with the epicentre of the quake reportedly in the southwest of San Pedro de Atacama. Major copper mines close to the epicentre incl...Read More