Dual-listed Botswana Diamonds has started a bulk sampling campaign at its Marsfontein project, in South Africa, where kimberlite was previously identified as being of “high interest”.Treatment will be undertaken at a nearby diamond processing facility using two-stage crushing, screening, pans, X-ray and grease recovery processes.AdvertisementThe recently declared National State of Disa...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers' upcoming sight in Botswana will still take place despite the country's ban on arrivals from the US, China, India and Belgium, the miner has confirmed."While this is an extraordinary situation and COVID-19 has had an impact, our customers continue to express some demand for rough diamonds and have communicated their desire for the sight to proceed," a spokesperson for De...Read More

RAPAPORT... Pandora has rescinded its revenue guidance for 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic has hit sales and forced it to shut stores temporarily, it said Monday.In February, the company had forecast revenue would fall between 3% and 6% for the year."Pandora's financial guidance announced on February 4, 2020, excluded any impact from COVID-19," the company noted. "As a consequence of the global...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market was quiet on Thursday March 19, despite a sharp decrease in prices the day before, sources have told Fastmarkets.On March 18, a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Canadian cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10), 20,000 tonnes of shredded and 12,000 tonnes of plate and structural (P&S) scrap, at an average price of $255 per tonne cfr.Marke...Read More

Prices for bulk ferrous scrap cargoes imported into Bangladesh have fallen over the past week amid a deterioration in international scrap prices and heightened disruption created by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 19.Bangladesh has provided a rare bright spot for bulk scrap sellers over recent weeks, with a strong local steel market and high co...Read More

RAPAPORT... The impact of the coronavirus on US retail supply chains may be larger than previously expected, as disruptions to transportation are likely to affect imports in March and April, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.The NRF was already predicting a sharp drop in imports of goods from mainland China due to factory shutdowns and travel restrictions. However, as the virus spreads, sh...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices showed little movement on Thursday March 19 while concerns about the global economic outlook persisted, although one trade involving a premium mid-vol cargo pushed the premium hard coking coal cfr China index up.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $163.15 per tonne, down $0.76 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $168.05 per t...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices dropped on Thursday March 19, though uncertainty about supply persisted and the futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange regained some losses made earlier in the morning. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.36 per tonne, down $0.35 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.37 per tonne, down $0.83 per tone58% Fe fines high-grade pr...Read More

Fastmarkets announces the launch of import ferrous scrap prices for the markets of Bangladesh and South Korea.These new price assessments, and accompanying written content, will significantly boost Fastmarkets' coverage of the Asia ferrous scrap complex, providing subscribers with accurate pricing data together with detailed and insightful market commentary.After undertaking an extensive consultat...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe financing is comprised of unsecured convertible debentures, with the funds to be used to advance ongoing litigation associated with permits for the NorthMet project in Minnesota, USA, as well as to continue engineering and optimisation efforts for the project."These funds provide the financial framework to continue to move the...Read More

While risk-off dominates and even though governments are prepared to throw money at the financial system and into economies and households, the likelihood is that more factories will close, household spending will fall, as will demand for raw materials, but there may be some dead cat bounces along the way.Partial and full lockdowns will hopefully mean the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is brought u...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resources"This is one of the lowest prices for a decade and unfortunately this will last as long as the coronavirus issue exists.Read More

Physical trading for copper in China has ground to a halt after the tumbling copper price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) startled the market, Fastmarkets heard.Copper, a bellwether for the global economy, lost its cool following the rout across global financial markets amid the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) fallout. SHFE copper rapidly fell to the daily down limit after it opened on Thursday Ma...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Thursday March 19, with selling pressure and high turnover prompting a further 1% decline, while a fresh inflow of some 46,475 tonnes of aluminium saw the light metal top the losses over the morning. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $4,687.50 per tonne, up from a morning low of $4,3...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 72 points in pre-opening trade. The New York Stock Exchange announced a move to start fully electronic trading on Monday. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for the March Philly Fed Index was 10.0 versus 36.7 in February. Actual was -12.7. Consensus for...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has approved Minara cobalt briquettes produced at Glencore's Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt operations in Australia for delivery against the exchange's physically settled cobalt contract.Murrin Murrin produces about 3,000 tonnes per year of cobalt briquettes. The LME suspended brand-listing fees for new cobalt brands in March last...Read More

While risk-off dominates and even though governments are prepared to throw money at the financial system and into economies and households, the likelihood is that more factories will close, household spending will fall, as will demand for raw materials, but there may be some dead cat bounces along the way.Partial and full lockdowns will hopefully mean the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is brought u...Read More

The plummeting of share prices among companies in the battery supply chain due to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic is reversing the gains achieved after China's announcement of its policy on electric-vehicle subsidies, indicating weak sentiment toward the market.Lithium and cobalt commodity prices have largely been resilient to volatility since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.Benchmark...Read More

The board of the Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) and the directors of Metal Events Ltd have postponed the annual conference scheduled for April in Charleston, in the US state of South Carolina, due to concerns over the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, the trade group said on Thursday March 19.The three-day convention will now be held April 14-16, 2021, in Charleston. The original dates w...Read More

The fall in cobalt hydroxide payables has accelerated over the past week on increasing concerns about a slowdown in the global economy and electric vehicle (EV) production due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator fell to 65-68% against the standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) on Wednesday March 18, down 2.2% from 67-69% on...Read More