Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged down on Monday October 12, on the news that steel mills in China have been verbally notified to halt imports of Australian coking coal.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $131.08 per tonne, down $1.76 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $140.14 per tonne, down $1.01 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) moved sharply higher in September, in line with our expectations, but the magnitude of the rise exceeded our predictions. Domestic HRC prices averaged $566 per ton in September, exceeding our $540 per ton forecast price.A c...Read More

RAPAPORT... There was a moment during the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony that made the jewelry world stop and gasp. Lady Gaga, who would later that evening collect the coveted Oscar for best original song, stepped onto the red carpet in an Alexander McQueen dress, black leather gloves, and a storied yellow-diamond necklace by Tiffany & Co. The necklace's 128-carat center stone, which compan...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) moved sharply higher in September, in line with our expectations, but the magnitude of the rise exceeded our predictions. Domestic HRC prices averaged $566 per ton in September, exceeding our $540 per ton forecast price.A c...Read More

RAPAPORT... The global market for secondhand hard-luxury goods is benefiting from emerging consumer trends that have intensified during Covid-19, according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The category is growing by 8% per year, the management firm said in a recent report.Rising online sales, changing consumer preferences and increased concerns about sustainability are driving demand for the...Read More

RAPAPORT... Belgium's polished shipments slumped last month as the cancellation of the September Hong Kong show and continued uncertainty around Covid-19 stalled the sector's recovery."Rough is performing really well; polished is still somewhat subdued," a spokesperson for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) told Rapaport News on Monday. "It's not like polished is flying out the doors any...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The vast new bourse being built in Surat is set to attract $20bn of exports from Mumbai and create 200,000 job when it opens next year. The world's largest office building - covering a site larger than The Pentagon in the USA  - will boast nine 11-story towers, housing 4,400 offices and bringing merchants and manufacturers under one very big roof.The Surat Diamond Bo...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The proposed sale of the Ekati mine in Canada is off, after owners Dominion reached an "impasse" with its buyer's insurers. The troubled miner had hoped to complete the $146m sale next month to another subsidiary of its parent group, The Washington Companies.But they couldn't reach agreement on $280m of surety bonds posted with the Government of the Northwest Territo...Read More

RAPAPORT... Bonhams has hired Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, the former CEO of Baselworld owner MCH Group, as its chairman. He will replace Bruno Vinciguerra, who became global CEO of the auction house earlier this year.Hoejsgaard is the chairman of Swiss lingerie and textile company Calida Group, as well as non-executive director of MCH Group and Barclays Bank Switzerland, Bonhams said last week....Read More

(IDEX Online) - The world's largest vivid purple-pink diamond to be offered at auction could fetch $38m, says Sotheby's.  The ultra-rare, IF-clarity, Type IIa 14.83-carat gem was mined and cut by Alrosa and is the largest pink rough diamond ever produced in Russia.It has been named after a celebrated Russian ballet, The Spirit of the Rose and will be offered at the Magnifi...Read More

The wait time for aluminium to be delivered from Istim's London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia was still over two months at the end of September, according to the latest LME queue report, and market participants believe it has grown even longer since the start of October. The queue was 61 days for aluminium on the last day of September, according to data released on M...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sotheby's will sell the largest vivid-purple-pink diamond ever to appear at auction, with expectations it could achieve up to $38 million at a November sale.The oval modified brilliant-cut, 14.83-carat, fancy-vivid-purple-pink, internally flawless, type IIa stone is set to go under the hammer at the Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction in Geneva on November 11, Sotheby's said Mo...Read More

RAPAPORT... Dominion Diamond Mines' sale of Ekati is off the table after the buyer failed to agree on an arrangement with insurers to cover future costs of the site.Affiliates of the Washington Companies, Dominion's owner, were due to acquire the Canada-located diamond mine for $126 million. However, talks between the purchaser and three issuers of surety bonds - Aviva Insurance Company of Ca...Read More

Aluminium producer Vedanta has named trading houses Gerli Metalli Spa in Italy and Conexus Resources Ltd in London as two new European marketing agents, according to letters seen by Fastmarkets.Gerli will be responsible for marketing Vedanta's value-added aluminium products (VAP) in Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Conexus will market Vedanta's VAP in Turkey, Bu...Read More

Finland is building up Europe's next stage of battery metal evolution with Terrafame's new battery chemical plant, and trading house Trafigura is squarely in the mix. With Terrafame, Finland's government has resurrected the assets of formerly defunct Talvivaara Mining, and is shaping up to bring about the world's largest nickel sulfate plant early next year. Having initially invested in Terrafame...Read More

Goldman Sachs has hired Nicholas Snowdon as a metals strategist in London, Fastmarkets understands.Snowdon joins from Deutche Bank and...Read More

The LME three-month zinc price climbed more than 1% during morning trading on Monday October 12, while the fresh cancelation of some 11,650 tonnes of copper from LME warehouses in New Orleans failed to spark upward momentum in LME futures. Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $2,455 per tonne, climbing from a morning low of $2,403.50 per tonne, while turnover was strong at more...Read More

Aluminium producer Rusal has announced plans to switch the reduction area of its Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter (KrAZ), in Russia, to a new type of raw material to reduce emissions. It will use eco-friendly pitch, which is less tarry in nature and its application in the aluminium production process is less harmful for the environment. The implementation of this and other technical innovations at Kr...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have again moved higher, with some mills holding off from making offers, demand continuing to rise slowly and supply remaining restricted by mill idlings, outages and a slab shortage, Fastmarkets understands. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $32.35 per hundredweight ($647 per short ton) on Monday October 12, u...Read More

(Updates prices) By Peter Hobson LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Copper touched a three-week highon Monday as demand from top consumer China and the threat ofstrikes by miners in Chile pushed prices closer to 27-monthhighs reached in September, though a strengthening yuan limitedgains. Benchmark three-month copper on the London MetalExchange (LME) was down 0.2% at $6,748 a tonne at 1600 GMT aftergoing...Read More