The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Numerous ore and alloy markets enjoyed upward pricing momentum in the first half 2020, with supply-side constraints supporting prices despite collapsing demand from steelmakers and other key end users. While supply side issues related to Covid-19 lockdowns have been resolved,...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the year 2020 to date in late August, the Fastmarkets 62% Fe iron ore benchmark has powered along and reached six-year highs, supported by Chinese demand, and despite the global economic uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Iron ore demand has weakened almost everywhere except in China, where it has continued to...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.There has been an increasing bullishness in Chinese steel market sentiment recently, with rising post-Covid-19 optimism about the country's economy for the second half of 2020, especially after the government announced an infrastructure spending boost. Although we believe that high prices are justified, they remain far from...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This year has come with several unexpected events which increased the bullish case for iron ore prices, while the Chinese government's spending on infrastructure is likely to boost iron ore demand and add upside support to prices. But supply disruptions and a demand surge which caused price spikes are now easing. We do not e...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. A look at stainless steel price movements through August reveals the ongoing battle being faced by stainless steelmakers in Europe and the United States while they try to pass on rising costs to consumers. In these regions, prices on most grades of stainless steel are little changed from July, rising by around 2% at most -...Read More

The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we enter the summer season across the northern hemisphere, almost half a year has passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began to seriously affect Europe and the United States.One would not really be able to tell that such a dramatic event had occurred by looking at stainless steel prices, however, because they are more or less...Read More

RAPAPORT... The VicenzaOro International Community Event (VOICE) takes place in Italy this week under strict health guidelines, with organizers expecting more than 370 exhibitors to attend despite the pandemic.The fair began Saturday and runs through Monday under strict health guidelines, the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) said last week. The show will be one of the few to occur in physical f...Read More

RAPAPORT... Nonprofit group Gem Legacy will launch an auction of donated jewelry and loose gems to celebrate its second anniversary, with the proceeds going to fund new tool kits for artisanal miners in Africa."Tools are absolutely essential to small gem miners' success," Rachel Dery, director of communications and outreach for Gem Legacy, said last week. "The tool kit will provide them with more...Read More

RAPAPORT... HB Antwerp has acquired the manufacturing facility of AMC Diamonds, a Belgian large-stone specialist and De Beers sightholder, bringing with it 13 employees as well as the company's machinery and technology."With this acquisition, HB Antwerp confirms its ambition to bring the diamond-polishing process back to Antwerp in its entirety by combining the typical Antwerp savoir faire wi...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond sales began to rebound at De Beers' August sight as demand picked up ahead of the holiday season and governments reduced Covid-19 restrictions."Diamond markets showed some continued improvement throughout August and September as Covid-19 restrictions continued to ease in various locations, and manufacturers focused on meeting retail demand for polished diamonds, part...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Police in Angola have seized a 147-carat diamond as part of Operation Transparency, its long-running crackdown on illicit diamond trafficking and illegal immigration.An Angolan citizen and a foreign national were detained in the eastern Lunda Norte province, according to the country's official news agency Angola Press. No further details about the stone were disclosed.Security...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's is to auction an extremely rare 102.39-carat D color, Type IIa, flawless oval diamond.   It will be sold in a live online auction, with, unusually, no reserve price. There is speculation that the gem (pictured), described as "the size of a lollipop" could break the record for an online diamond auction, and fetch up to $30m, though Sotheby's would not be dra...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  De Beers announced a provisional $320m of rough sales at last month's Sight 7, the highest figure since the pandemic struck.It's almost three times more than the previous Sight ($116m) and slightly up on last year's August Sight ($287m).It results were in line with the miner's biggest rival, Alrosa, which last week revealed a similar recovery.  Combin...Read More

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - More than 50 people are dead after landslides caused the collapse of three artisanal gold mines near the city of Kamituga in eastern Congo's South Kivu province on Friday, officials said.Read full newsRead More

At least 50 people are thought to have died when an artisanal gold mine collapsed near Kamituga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday afternoon, a local mining NGO said.Read full newsRead More

At least 50 people are thought to have died when an artisanal gold mine collapsed near Kamituga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday afternoon, a local mining NGO said.Read full newsRead More

The steep recovery of the stock market amid the pandemic and fear of an economic slowdown are good reasons to consider buying some defensive stocks now. While protecting the downside risk, defensive stocks are likely to add stability to your portfolio amid high volatility.Here are the top three defensive bets investors could consider buying under $20.Algonquin Power & UtilitiesAlgonquin Power...Read More

Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.B)(NYSE:TECK.B) stock just surged more than 12% to its highest share price in more than six months.Teck Resources stock priceAt the time of writing, Teck Resources stock trades near $17.50 per share. That’s back to where the shares traded before the start of the pandemic market crash last February.The rebound shouldn’t be a surprise to long-time followers of Te...Read More

A king that would not feel his crown too heavy for him, must wear it every day; but if he think it too light, he knoweth not of what metal it is made.Sir Francis BaconElon Musk is the new king of the automobile - but I'm not too sure he knows what metal his crown is made of.We've watched him take his eyes off the prize several times now: from smoking a joint on a podcast to Tweeting about taking T...Read More

Tech stocks are taking a blow and it is raising questions about the role they can play moving forward.The inflow of money into big tech hardly needs mentioning, I'm sure. The thing is, they hardly needed more of a boost.The top five U.S. companies - pull out Netflix, put in Microsoft - made up 18% of the market capitalization of the entire S&P 500. That had never happened before for any top five c...Read More