Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 26 that are worth another look.Brazilian flat steel producer Usiminas has restarted its No1 blast furnace (BF) in Ipatinga city, in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais state, it said on August 26.Following recent concerns on the...Read More

Global tin premiums were static in the week to Tuesday August 25, with the metal's subdued three-month price on the London Metal Exchange doing little to spur buying activity, while a returning backwardation and concerns over tight supply further limited interest in spot sales.Backwardation pressure keeps European market quietUS market eyes upside amid falling stocksImport losses cool Chinese buyi...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Iranian export prices for steel billet and slab increased in the week ended Wednesday August 26 on higher offers and sales prices heard in the market.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, export, fob ports Iran, was $395-400 per tonne on August 26, compared with $390-395 per tonne a week earlier.One Iranian mill was heard selling a cargo of billets with modified chemistry at $401-...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 26 that are worth another look.Brazilian flat steel producer Usiminas has restarted its No1 blast furnace (BF) in Ipatinga city, in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais state, it said on August 26.Following recent concerns on the...Read More

The three-month nickel and tin prices on the London Metal Exchange were the standout performers at the close of trading on Wednesday August 26, with an 11.2% uptick in US durable goods orders supporting the base-metals complex.Meanwhile, steady buying in LME copper futures saw the metal's outright price approach key resistance at $6,600 per tonne.Nickel's underlying price on the LME closed at $15,...Read More

The seaborne premium hard coking coal fob index continued yesterday's uptrend, with a transaction of premium hard coking coal concluded on Wednesday August 26 while in the cfr market, seaborne prices remained flat due to low liquidity, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.91 per tonne, up $1.50 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $114.77 per tonne,...Read More

The LME three-month nickel price hit a year-to-date high in the morning session on Wednesday August 26, up 1% from the previous day's close, and at its highest level since November 2019, at $15,140 per tonne. London Metal Exchange nickel futures were supported by the fresh cancelation of 444 tonnes as of 9am this morning. A 378-tonne outflow of material - 354 tonnes from D...Read More

Be prepared for a very busy month of September-in terms of both price and activity... by Craig Hemke via Sprott Money NewsAs the "delivery month" of September nears for COMEX silver, let's take a look at where we stand and review again what it all means.This is a topic we've covered often thus far in 2020. Here at Sprott Money alone, I've written multiple articles detailing the breakdown of confi...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.These include an increase in our copper mine disruption estimates, upgrades to our production outlook for Indonesian nickel pig iron (NPI), a smaller refined zinc surplus, and an upgrade to our zinc price forecasts.Aluminium: Big disconnect between price and fundamentalsAluminium has extended its uptrend on the London Metal...Read More

Why has the physical turnover in COMEX silver been so extraordinarily large and persistent for all these years and not in any other commodity?by Ted Butler of Butler Research via Silver SeekFor those who have come to be convinced of the silver price manipulation, as well as those who remain unconvinced, I ask you to put aside all thoughts about derivatives trading, concentrated short positions and...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.August 2020 has seen the prices of most steel products move up in tandem around the world, in contrast to recent months when steel prices have moved in different directions depending on the market.This dynamic has been seen in most coated steel markets as well, with the prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), pre-painted...Read More

The three-month nickel and tin prices on the London Metal Exchange were the standout performers at the close of trading on Wednesday August 26, with an 11.2% uptick in US durable goods orders supporting the base-metals complex.Meanwhile, steady buying in LME copper futures saw the metal's outright price approach key resistance at $6,600 per tonne.Nickel's underlying price on the LME closed at $15,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds will charge Indian customers an additional 2% to cover a new e-commerce tax that might apply to the miner's rough sales.India introduced the equalization levy on April 1, taxing all overseas e-commerce operators' sales of goods and services in the country. Petra is still trying to establish whether the tax affects its sales to Indian clients through its online biddi...Read More

UK secondary aluminium prices continued to rise on Wednesday August 26, with a regional supply squeeze pushing LM24 ingot prices above the levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic began.The UK secondary aluminium market has suffered considerably as a result of Covid-19 and its associated industrial lockdown.All related UK industry effectively ground to a halt in March when carmakers, the main cons...Read More

RAPAPORT... India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has again urged members to avoid taking on unsellable diamond inventory, arguing that the industry's recent improvement has been only partial.While polished demand is increasing and some categories are in short supply, a full recovery faces obstacles, the council said in a statement Tuesday."A good part of the inventory...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies will trace Alrosa's rough diamonds from the mine through each point of their journey using technology already in play in the manufacturing sector."[The system] enables tracking diamonds originating from Alrosa, however traded and polished by multiple midstream entities," Sarine said last week. "It leverages Sarine's extensive installed base of technological solution...Read More

RAPAPORT... Technology provider Everledger has teamed up with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to verify diamond grading reports on e-commerce site JD.com, China's largest retailer.Everledger will synchronize the GIA's grading information to JD's existing anti-counterfeiting platform, giving consumers independently verified grading reports, the three organizations said in a joint st...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  India's voluntary suspensions of rough imports have helped stabilize diamond prices, says Colin Shah, newly-appointed chairman of the GJEPC."Commodities across the world, including oil, have fallen but diamond prices have been stable," he said."This was the result of a conscious decision taken by the Indian diamond companies to cut down rough imports so that businesses c...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Talks to renew a 10-year agreement between De Beers and the Botswana government have been delayed by COVID-19 travel restrictions.They jointly operate the Debswana Diamond Company, which controls all diamond mining in Botswana, on a 50/50 basis, and which supplies around a quarter of the world's rough from its Damtshaa, Jwaneng, Letlhakane and Orapa mines.The government says n...Read More