Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively higher during morning trading on Tuesday September 1, with both nickel and zinc prices leading the way with 2.5% increases on high turnover, while positive manufacturing data out of Europe this morning bolstered buying momentum further. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $15,715 per tonne, climbing 2.58%...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Prices across most ferro-alloy markets trended stable to lower in August as demand remained subdued in major markets, apart from China where steel output continues to rise at a rapid pace, supporting demand for ferro-alloys. As alloy makers seek to remedy supply/demand imbalan...Read More
RAPAPORT... Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) held its first live tender of rough diamonds in Dubai since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with participation from nearly 100 companies.TAGS presented "high-quality" rough from mines in South Africa, Angola and Namibia worth approximately $30 million to $35 million, it said Tuesday. Some 90% of those goods sold by value. TAGS held its last live t...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico were mostly unchanged in the week ended Friday August 28 amid steady demand, particularly in the country's central region.No major price changes were announced, with some market participants still adjusting to price increases in earlier weeks.Fastmarkets' assessment of steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Bajio was at 5,950 pesos per...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Hong Kong show usually scheduled for September will take place in an online-only format this year due to the coronavirus.Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong, formerly the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, was initially rescheduled to November because of the pandemic. However, organizer Informa Markets has now canceled the physical event entirely, and will inst...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong plunged in Julyamid a continued lack of tourism and a resurgence in coronavirus cases.Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts slid 54% year on year to HKD 2.55 billion ($328.5 million) for the month. While the figure was an improvement over the previous month, the lingering effects on the trade continued to be...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has unearthed a high-quality, 233-carat, type II diamond from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, the company said TuesdayThe discovery is the fifth rough stone over 100 carats that Let??eng has yielded this year, according to Rapaport records. It follows that of a 442-carat, type II diamond that was recovered on August 23, the company said Tuesday. That stone is one of the larg...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, September 1, 2020, Las Vegas... Diamond markets improved in August as governments eased Covid-19 restrictions and dealers sought to fill specific orders from jewelers. Indian manufacturers increased polished production to fill shortages in certain categories. Polished prices firmed. The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI?,,?) for 1-carat diamonds rose 3.2% in August. It has fallen...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil across Europe increased further over the week to Friday August 28, supported by high import prices, reduced production from domestic mills and seasonal demand recovery.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?450.45 ($537.09) per tonne on Friday August 28, up by ?,?16.70 per tonne week on week and...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers reportedly sold $300m of rough at Sight 7 last week, after offering 10 per cent discounts to buyers.It signals the start of a recovery after its sales for the whole of Q2 fell 96 per cent to just $56m.The miner sold $551m of uncut gems at its February Sight, the last before the pandemic took hold globally and decimated demand.De Beers, which sells a quarter of the world�...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A spectacular yellow-brown diamond fetched $325,000 in the first online-only sale of diamonds by Christie's.The Jewels Online: Summer Sparkle realized $1,492,625 in total, with 84 per cent sold by lot.The headline lot was a 20.21-carat pear-shaped stone (pictured) set in a fine white diamond necklace. Other highlights included old mine brilliant-cut diamond ring of 12.02...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Uncertain times are reflected in an uncertain market, with few price movements during July and little to discern by way of overall trends. A glance at the charts shows a more or less equal split between red (falls) and green (rises). Key one-carats (1.00-1.24cts), both round and fancy cuts, were pretty much static. Only the smallest fancies (0.18-0.22cts) showed consistent increase...Read More
RAPAPORT... The first Christie's online auction dedicated solely to diamonds achieved $1.5 million, with a Graff necklace coming in as the top lot.The piece features a detachable pendant with a pear brilliant-cut, 20.21-carat, fancy-deep-yellow-brown, VS1-clarity diamond and 47.29 carats of white diamonds. It brought in $325,000, falling within its presale estimate range, Christie's announced last...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly trending upward during the afternoon session on Tuesday September 1, rallying on better data for the China purchasing managers' index (PMI) and a weak US dollar.The base-metals complex continued its recent macro-following trend on Tuesday, rising on hopes of greater Chinese demand with the region's manufacturing figures going...Read More
Zinc concentrate treatment charges (TCs) continued its upward trend in August with smelters reluctant to accept lower offers, while lead concentrate TCs fell sharply in response to supply tightness. Fastmarkets assessed the zinc spot concentrate TCs, cif China at $170-190 per tonne on Friday August 28, rising by $5 from the previous range of $165-185 per tonne at the end of July. Offers of zi...Read More
Impol Group's facility in Bistrica, Slovenia has received the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard certification, it said on Tuesday September 1. The facility produced 250,000 tonnes of various value-added aluminium products such as extrusion billet, rolling slab, sheet and others in 2019, and was certified for its responsible production, sourcing and stewardship...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively higher during morning trading on Tuesday September 1, with both nickel and zinc prices leading the way with 2.5% increases on high turnover, while positive manufacturing data out of Europe this morning bolstered buying momentum further. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $15,715 per tonne, climbing 2.58%...Read More
Fastmarkets invites all aluminium market participants to provide feedback on its initiative to price the physical low-carbon aluminium market. Specifically, Fastmarkets seeks feedback on proposed specifications of low-carbon aluminium, the type of pricing mechanism used to perform price discovery for low-carbon aluminium and the products and locations in which low carbon aluminium should be priced...Read More
Markets were for the most part upbeat this morning, Tuesday September 1, with all the metals on the London Metal Exchange firmer, as were pre-market major western equity index prices. China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) beat expectations with a reading of 53.1 for August, compared with 52.8 in July. This was enough to send three-month LME copper prices to levels not seen...Read More
Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesGomez, a long-time union leader and opponent of Grupo Mexico, made his demand after the company and its principal owner Jorge Larrea failed to respond to a request by president Andres Lopez for it to negotiate a settlement to a long-running strike at several of its operations.Gomez asked the president, a personal friend, to strip t...Read More