The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US flat-rolled prices began to recover in August, as we expected. The monthly average of our daily HRC index hit $473 per ton ($521/tonne), which was $3/t above our forecast.The upward momentum has since continued and has done so more quickly than we expected - sentiment has turned around dramatically on fundamental developm...Read More

Most import prices for flat steel in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have remained stable over the past seven days, with demand still weak, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 22.Most market participants believed that prices would remain steady or perhaps decrease further in the next few days because of softening Chinese demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, ex...Read More

Tariffs and other trade protectionist measures are not conducive to free trade, the chief executives of several major aluminium producers said on a panel in Fastmarkets' virtual International Aluminium Conference on Tuesday September 22.Top executives from Alcoa, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Hindalco, Norsk Hydro and China Hongqiao participated in the panel, sharing their thoughts on trade protection...Read More

RAPAPORT... Miners have seen "encouraging" signs of recovery in the diamond market as they resume rough sales following an extended period of weak demand.Mountain Province garnered $8.9 million from the sale of 210,661 carats from its Gahcho Ku?(C) mine in Canada, at an average price of $42 per carat, at its first tender since the onset of Covid-19. The average price at the sale, which did no...Read More

RAPAPORT... The International Gemological Institute (IGI) will introduce new grading reports that are more durable and easier to read, and have additional layers of security to protect against counterfeiting.The new certificates, which the lab will debut in October, will include the IGI seal, as well as Certieye, a tamper-evident security label, the institute said Monday. The reports will also be...Read More

German consumers of refined copper have been unloading inventory on the spot market over the past two weeks, adding downward pressure to premiums.German copper end-users selling inventory amid low industrial demand, backwardationGerman consumers of refined copper have been unloading some of their inventory on the spot market to weigh on premium over the past two weeks.Fastmarkets' Copper grad...Read More

RAPAPORT... A US court has approved Tiffany & Co.'s request to fast-track its lawsuit against LVMH, scheduling a four-day trial starting January 5, 2021.The timeline means a ruling would come after the final deadline for LVMH's takeover of Tiffany, but before antitrust approvals for the deal begin to expire. The US jeweler had asked for the trial to take place even sooner, before the deal...Read More

Major aluminium producers operating in some of the countries most affected by Covid-19 took decisive actions early on to protect workers and maintain operations, top executives said during a panel at Fastmarkets International Aluminium Conference on Tuesday September 22.Top executives from Alcoa Corp, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Hindalco, Norsk Hydro and China Hongqiao participated in the panel, sha...Read More

The London Metal Exchange will add to its aluminium pricing offering with a new cash-settled European duty-paid aluminium premium contract settled against Fastmarkets' benchmark Rotterdam premium. Speaking at the Fastmarkets International Aluminium Conference on Tuesday September 22, Alex Shaw, head of product development and research at the LME, said the exchange will launch the contract in 2021....Read More

(IDEX Online) - Canadian miner Mountain Province Diamonds has held its first traditional sale February.Prices per carat were in line those achieved by comparable stones at the equivalent sale in 2019, the company said.Mountain Province operates the Gahcho Kue mine (pictured) in Canada's Northwest Territories, in a joint venture with De Beers Canada Inc.The sale, in Antwerp on Saturday, realiz...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Tiffany & Co yesterday secured a January court date for its legal battle against the French luxury conglomerate LVMH.The expedited four-day hearing would still make it technically possible for the $16.2bn acquisition to go ahead before antitrust approvals expire.LVMH pulled out of its delayed purchase of the New York-based jeweler two weeks ago, citing pressure from the French...Read More

Demand for value-added aluminium is returning, supported by a recovery in demand from the automobile and industrial sectors, according to Hindalco's managing director and aluminium division chief executive Satish Pai.Speaking at the Fastmarkets International Aluminium Conference on Tuesday September 22, Pai said the recovery in the auto and industrial sectors has spurred d...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sixteen diamond workers have taken their lives during the Covid crisis in Surat, according to media reports in India.Many despaired after losing their jobs during lockdown. Some returned to their villages in Gujurat, only to find that agricultural work couldn't sustain their families.Last month the body of Jaysukh Gajera, president of Surat Diamond Polishers' Association,...Read More

The now-lifted US tariff on Canadian aluminium and the effect of Covid-19 on the market as a whole made an already challenging 2020 for the aluminium industry even tougher, according to Alf Barrios, chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Aluminium.The Section 232 tariff applied to US aluminium imports from Canada, where Rio Tinto has a large aluminium smelting presence, was removed just 40 days afte...Read More

Voestalpine has started up a new bloom continuous caster in Donawitz, Austria, to manufacture highly-advanced end products, the Austrian steelmaker said on Tuesday September 22.The new bloom continuous machine, CC4 at Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz, will have capacity of 1 million tonnes per year and will replace the existing CC2 machine, which has capacity of 750,000 tpy and has been in service for 4...Read More

Sales volumes from Brazilian flat steel distributors rose by 33.5% in August 2020 compared with the corresponding month in 2019, with lower availability from mills leading customers to seek more material from the distribution sector, national distributors' association Inda said on Tuesday September 22.Distributors sold 373,800 tonnes in August, up from 279,900 tonnes a year before. Volumes were al...Read More

Reduced domestic output and limited import offers are keeping sentiment upbeat in the European hot-rolled coil market, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 22.Fastmarkets calculated the daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?485.35 ($572.59) per tonne on Tuesday September 22, up by just ?,?0.40 per tonne from ?,?484.95 per tonne on Monday.The index was up...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange have rebounded this morning, Tuesday September 22, after weakness in equities on Monday dragged them lower.At the time of our Morning View report on Monday, the LME metals were up by an average of 0.2%, but they ended the day down by an average of 1.6% after concerns escalated about second waves of Covid-19 spreading across Europe.But an across-the-b...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.The first hole of a four-hole program hit 74m at 1.1% copper (plus gold, silver and molybdenum) from 219m, including 41m at 1.9% copper.Read More