Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday September 29 that are worth another look.Autumn-winter steel production restriction plans in northern China will start on October 1 and last until March 31, 2021, according to a draft plan on air pollution control released by the Ministry...Read More

Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will retire early on December 31 this year and take up the role of senior advisor to the board for six months, HKEX said on Tuesday September 29.Li had previously announced that he would not seek a renewal as chief executive at the end of his current contract and was expected to initially leave his role in October 2021."Being c...Read More

Autumn-winter steel production restriction plans in northern China will start on October 1 and last until March 31, 2021, according to a draft plan on air pollution control released by the Ministry of Ecology & Environment (MEE) late on Tuesday September 29. Steel mills in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi will be affected by production restrictions aimed at improving ai...Read More

Steel market participants often identify iron ore as the key driver of steel prices because mills typically formulate their pricing strategies based on raw material costs - but this appears to have changed in 2020.While some unique challenges have emerged this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, one development that stood out from the rest is this: Iron ore market participants have attributed the s...Read More

London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices made no significant gains at the close on Tuesday September 29, with a directionless base-metals complex awaiting further macroeconomic stimulus.This was expected to come in the form of a United States fiscal stimulus package intended to fight the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.LME base metals futures prices stalled while talks c...Read More

Why are these guys still allowed to trade in the gold and silver markets?Bix Weir with Chris Marcus on Arcadia EconomicsAs more details continue to emerge about the "criminal racket" enterprise JPMorgan's precious metals desk was running, a natural question emerges.Why are these guys still allowed to trade in the gold and silver markets?Fortunately Bix Weir of Road to Roota stopped by at Silver Fe...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Tuesday September 29 amid the easing of sintering restrictions in Tangshan over October, trade sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $117.61 per tonne, up $1.46 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $117.89 per tonne, up $1.74 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $108.59 per tonne, up $1.84 per tonne.6...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices increased slightly on Tuesday September 29. Demand in India for seaborne materials was good, while most Chinese market participants were awaiting developments in the spot market after the country's Golden Week holiday.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.48 per tonne, up by $0.62 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $144.9...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While steel markets in Asia have demonstrated the most strength with regards to pricing through much of 2020, recent weeks have seen prices in Europe and the United States outperform those elsewhere.In a way, much of this is simply catching up on the gains already made by Asian steelmakers. They were able to obtain higher pri...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

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prices for hot-rolled coil have performed in line with our expectations over the past month, with US domestic HRC prices finding a floor in July in line with the forecast, before improving in August. US HRC prices averaged $473 per short ton in August, compared with our forecast price of $470 per ton.Our prediction that an i...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

The takeaways from the latest edition of the Steel Raw Materials Market Tracker are ready to view.Iron ore prices remained relatively stable last week, signalling an end to the price spike. And for the first time since March, at the time of the Covid-19 lock-down in Hubei, we have seen a consistent downturn in utilization rates in China. Blast furnace utilization rates dropped for a fifth consecut...Read More

RAPAPORT... Watches of Switzerland Group has acquired pre-owned and vintage timepiece company Analog Shift in an effort to capitalize on the rising popularity of the secondhand market.The brands first collaborated in 2018, when the UK-based watch group offered a curated selection of Analog Shift's pre-owned timepieces at its newly opened New York City flagship store. That collection became one of...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales and profit plummeted at Indian diamond manufacturer Asian Star in the first fiscal quarter as the coronavirus froze the company's activities.Revenue slumped 80% year on year to INR 1.64 billion ($22.2 million) for the three months ending June 30, the Mumbai-based company said earlier this month. Net profit plunged 98% to INR 4.3 million ($58,356).The figures, which include t...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sotheby's will sell a 118.88-carat, royal-blue, unheated Burmese sapphire in Hong Kong next week, the largest of its kind the auction house has offered in 20 years. The cushion-shaped stone, surrounded by pear-shaped diamonds weighing a total of 16.06 carats, will lead the October 7 Magnificent Jewels sale, Sotheby's said Monday. A pear-shaped, 4.84-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, internally...Read More

RAPAPORT... LVMH has filed a countersuit against Tiffany & Co., claiming a legal right to pull out of the companies' tie-up due to Covid-19 and the US jeweler's "mismanagement" of the crisis.The pandemic constitutes a "material adverse effect" that allows LVMH to renege on the $16 billion takeover deal, LVMH argued Tuesday. The catastrophic period will have serious and long-term effects o...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Raiders broke in through the roof of a Kay Jewelers store - part of the Signet group - and fled with an estimated $1m of jewelry.Police responded to an emergency call after the alarm went off in the early hours last Friday morning, but looked through the windows and saw no evidence that anything was amiss.When staff arrived for work hours later at the store in Hinnesville, Georgia,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The French luxury conglomerate LVMH yesterday countersued Tiffany & Co, claiming the takeover agreement had become invalidated by the coronavirus pandemic. LVMH backed out of its delayed ?, ?16.2bn purchase three weeks ago, citing pressure from the French government over a tariffs war with the US and saying the deal was "no longer possible". Tiffany responded by suing LVMH.&nb...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's exports of lab-grown diamonds surged by a record 40 per cent in August.They represent a tiny fraction of its overall diamond production, but have shown sustained growth during the pandemic, while sales of natural stones have suffered badly.Year-on year exports of lab-growns were 37 per cent up in June, 22 per cent up in July and 40 per cent up in August, according to t...Read More