A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday November 19.Please click...Read More

Next year will be a "transitional year" for the nickel market ahead of a shift into a structural deficit in 2021, Denis Sharypin, head of market intelligence at Norilsk Nickel, told delegates at Fastmarkets' International Ferro-alloys Conference in Budapest, Hungary, this week. The market will strengthen as demand ramps up, especially with annual consumption from the battery sector swelling to 500...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange continued its downtrend during morning trading on Tuesday November 19, with price action coming under downward pressure from fresh inflows. Nickel's outright price was recently at $14,575 per tonne, while just over 2,000 lots were exchanged as of 9:15am London time. The metal's underlying price has been falling since reaching a 2019-high of...Read More

While equity markets in the United States have pushed up to and are holding near record highs, the industrial metals are by comparison weak.This suggests global industry is still unsure about whether a post-trade war rebound is on the cards, or whether a trade deal will even emerge. Haven assets are back in demand while trade uncertainty dominates.London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price fal...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were all down during the morning trading session on Tuesday November 19, with uncertainty over United States-China trade negotiations continuing to weigh on the complex. Market sentiment was subdued this morning following overnight reports that China was growing pessimistic about a trade deal due to US President Donald Trump's reluctance to remov...Read More

US hot-rolled coil prices remained roughly flat on Tuesday November 19 amid deepening concerns among buyers that a recent upward trend might be running out of steam.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $26.60 per hundredweight ($532 per short ton) on November 19, roughly unchanged from $26.64 per cwt on November 18 but up by 2% from $26.08 per cwt a we...Read More

Flat-rolled steel sales volumes from Brazilian distributors rose by 18.3% year-on-year in October, outpacing purchases and leading to a decline in stocks, steel distributors' association Inda said on Tuesday November 19.Sales reached 317,700 tonnes, compared with 268,500 tonnes in October 2018. Growth of 9.6% was seen when compared with September's sales volume of 290,000 tonnes.Distributors purch...Read More

Demand for passenger cars in Europe jumped by 8.68% year on year in October 2019, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Tuesday November 19. New car sales in Europe totaled 1,177,746 vehicles in October this year, compared with 1,083,693 units sold in the corresponding month of 2018. The ACEA attributed the annual rise to a lower number of registrations in October 2018 f...Read More

Seasonally weak demand in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow has pushed prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel sheet lower, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday November 18.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled sheet, domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia, was 39,000-40,000 roubles ($611-627) per tonne on November 18, including 20% VAT. This was down from 39,500-41,000 r...Read More

RAPAPORT... Diamcor Mining returned to profit in the second fiscalquarter, as an efficiency program helped it reduce costs. The miner recorded a net profit of $350,676 for the threemonths ending September 30, versus a loss of $417,368 during the same period ayear ago, it said last week. The company shaved its expenses by reducing its usage of heavyequipment and fuel, it explained. Rough-diamond s...Read More

RAPAPORT... Singapore-based retailer SK Jewellery Group saw a heavy declinein sales for the third quarter amid economic challenges in key markets and theclosure of its gold-trading platform. Revenue fell 46% to SGD 32.6 million ($24 million), whilenet profit slumped 58% to SGD 359,000 ($263,889), the company said in a statement earlier this month. "Continuing tensions between Japan and Korea,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports rose 1.5% to CHF 2.03 billion ($2.04billion) in October as increased orders from the US, China and Japan outweighed a significant drop in Hong Kong. "Overall growth was hindered by [a] very marked decline inHong Kong, while the rest of the world generally saw an upturn," the Federationof the Swiss Watch Industry said Tuesday. Unrest in the municipality has increasin...Read More

Mexican ferrous scrap prices inched upward during the week ended Friday November 15, with prices for most grades increasing by 150-350 pesos in the steelmaking regions of Bajio and Monterrey.A seller in the Bajio market expects prices to continue to climb due to tighter local scrap supply and increased prices for imported scrap from the United States. While one outlying Bajio mill trimmed pri...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Stephane Fischler, President of the World Diamond Council (WDC), told government representatives at the 2019 Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary Meeting that the future of the process depends on them.During the address at the start of the Plenary Meeting in New Delhi, India, Fischer said that with the end of a three-year reform and review cycle, governments hold the future of the KP in...Read More

RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. plans to create a new role of chief brand officer to replace its current head of merchandising.  The recruit, who will come from outside the company and will also be an executive vice president, will take over from Pamela Cloud, the jeweler's senior vice presidentand chief merchandising officer. The new role will combine Tiffany's marketing and merchandising effo...Read More

RAPAPORT... Zimbabwe plans to reduce the percentage of sales diamond miners must pay to the state, aiming to encourage companies to invest in the Marange fields.The government proposed a new royalty rate of 10% in theannual budget last week. Diamond producers currently pay 15% of gross revenues,but their overall costs have escalated as they shift toward hard-rock - or"conglomerate" - mining,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales and profit slumped at Indian diamond manufacturerAsian Star in the second fiscal quarter as weak rough demand prompted it to reduceits trading activities. The Mumbai-based company supplements its core cuttingbusiness by reselling rough through its subsidiaries, Pranav Kapadia, AsianStar's chief manager for accounts and tax, explained to Rapaport NewsMonday. Revenue from that...Read More

(IDEX Online) - As the U.S. gears up for the biggest shopping weekend of the year, American Express has released data from its Shop Small Consumer Impact survey.  According to the survey, 73 percent of people feel that empty storefronts are a national issue and 84 percent agree that the increase in empty storefronts and closing of small, independently owned businesses negatively affects...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto has announced its intention to take a majority ownership in the Star-Orion South diamond exploration site in Saskatchewan, Canada.  Saskatoon-based Star Diamond Corporation announced that Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. (RTEC), a fully owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, has provided notice to exercise its options under a Joint Venture agreement the two entered int...Read More

Import hurdles that emerged in some ports in China last week do not appear to have had much of an effect on the seaborne coking coal market, with a cargo of premium low-vol product fetching $145 per tonne cfr China on Tuesday November 19.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $131.91 per tonne, down $1.81 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $144.14 per tonne, down $3.6...Read More