Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 24 that are worth another look.Brazilian ferrous scrap association Inesfa expects further decreases in export volumes from the levels seen in August, with demand rising among local steelmakers amid a heated steel market, the group's president, Clineu Alvarenga, said...Read More
Novolipietsk Steel (NLMK), the largest steel producer in Russia, has resumed iron ore concentrate output at its Stoilensky mining and processing plant after two weeks of downtime due to an accident, the company said.Stoilensky GOK resumed operations on September 22 in a hot trials mode after output at the asset was stopped on September 7 following an accident, NLMK said.The restoration works laste...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 24 that are worth another look.Brazilian ferrous scrap association Inesfa expects further decreases in export volumes from the levels seen in August, with demand rising among local steelmakers amid a heated steel market, the group's president, Clineu Alvarenga, said...Read More
Several Bangladeshi steelmakers have exited the market for imports of steel scrap in recent days, piling further pressure on already-weakening prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 24.No deep-sea bulk imports have been booked into Bangladesh over the past week, while deals for material in containers were closed at lower prices than in the previous week."I think Banglad...Read More
Indian steel mills have held back their offers of hot-rolled coil for export shipments in November because the fob value of the bids they have received has fallen to less than $500 per tonne, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday September 24."Currently, [Indian] mills are neither issuing offers for HRC exports nor responding to bids," one market participant said.Bids for HRC exports received this week by...Read More
Slovak ferro-alloys producer OFZ Slovakia is producing a reduced rate of ferro-silicon, compounding other European plants that have cut production in response to the fall in consumption from steelmakers struggling to tackle end-user demand, an industry source told Fastmarkets.OFZ Slovakia is operating only two of its four ferro-silicon producing furnaces, with the rest of its furnaces producing ma...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 24 that are worth another look.Brazilian ferrous scrap association Inesfa expects further decreases in export volumes from the levels seen in August, with demand rising among local steelmakers amid a heated steel market, the group's president, Clineu Alvarenga, said...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices maintained their uptrend on Thursday September 24 amid active trading, although not as strongly as on Wednesday, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.86 per tonne, up $0.09 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $143.39 per tonne, up $1.70 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $110.76...Read More
Iron ore prices rebounded on Thursday September 24, aided by mills' need to restock ahead of a holiday in China, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $114.67 per tonne, up $0.86 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.46 per tonne, up $0.05 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $107.75 per tonne,down $0.10 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were universally trading lower in the morning session on Thursday September 24, with sustained strength in the dollar index - trading at a six-week high - and macro uncertainty driving down futures prices. The dollar continues to trade above 94 today, most recent trading around 94.53 this morning, acting as an effective headwind for metals tradi...Read More
The largest western banks not only rig the precious metals market...Bob Kudla with Sean on SGTreportBob Kudla joins me to discuss JP Morgan's billion dollar fine and the fact that the largest western banks not only rig the precious metals market, the finance drug cartels, terrorists and mobsters - on the record!Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.We do not consider the average iron ore fines price for September so far above $125 per tonne cfr Qingdao to be sustainable. The bullishness is not likely to last in the long term as we expect Chinese demand growth to slow down. A key factor boosting Chinese steel demand so far has been the stimulus policies from the authori...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their silence in the deep-sea scrap markets in hopes of pushing prices downward, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 24.The country's steelmakers have been staying away from the deep-sea scrap market since September 9, when bookings were made at $301 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).Although some US and Baltic Sea...Read More
Reduced availability of hot-rolled coil in Europe from both mills within the region and from overseas suppliers has been supporting domestic prices, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?487.81 ($569.82) per tonne on Thursday September 24, up by just ?,?0.20 per tonne from ?,?487.61 per tonne on Wednesday.Th...Read More
Polished prices firm amid shortages and improving holiday orders. Trading restrained due to continued rise in Covid-19 cases. Jewelers preparing 4Q marketing with emphasis on e-commerce strategies to drive growth. Retailers pushing dealers for memo. More manufacturers insisting on cash deals. Steady rough buying during sight week as Surat cutters try to increase production and fill polished supply...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. plans to achieve 100% traceability of diamonds and precious metals in the coming years as part of a sustainability pledge it released this week.The retailer aims to track all diamonds weighing 0.18 carats or more to the mine of origin or its suppliers' approved mines by 2025, it said Tuesday. It also plans to trace all gold, silver and platinum to the mine or rec...Read More
RAPAPORT... Both male and female US consumers are more likely to purchase and receive diamond jewelry over the next six months than they did during prior coronavirus waves, according to a De Beers survey.Women are also wearing more diamond jewelry than over the last few months, particularly engagement rings and necklaces, the survey found.Two-thirds of Americans said they were more inclined to giv...Read More
RAPAPORT... The International Standards Organization (ISO) has approved its first grading guidelines for polished diamonds in an effort to achieve consistency among laboratories.The new ISO 24106 specifies the terminology, classification and methods that labs should use when grading and describing loose stones, the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) said Wednesday. Implementing the instruc...Read More
Las Vegas, September 24, 2020As the diamond industry begins its recovery from the initial impact of Covid-19, its once-lagging progress toward digital is being vastly accelerated. While this will not be a rapid transition for a trade that has traditionally thrived on face-to-face networking and handshakes, a growing number of companies are putting increased resources into focusing on their online...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices continued to trend lower through Thursday September 24, with dip buying across the complex failing to stall the decreases.Tin, lead, copper and zinc led the price decline, with tin losing 1.3% on Thursday. The volumes traded on the LME have been above average due to the drop in prices.On Wednesday September 23, tin dropped by 3%, its deepest sel...Read More