(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds saw prices for its rough stones fall 27 per cent in February, compared with the same month last year, as coronavirus brought its mining operations to a halt. The UK-listed firm has put its Williamson mine in Tanzania on care and maintenance from the middle of April, and government lockdowns on its Finsch, Cullinan and Koffiefontein mines in South Africa will be revie...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices declined in the United States while the public-health efforts to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus continued to diminish industrial production and demand for steel sheet. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, was calculated at $24.42 per hundredweight ($488.40 per short ton) on Monday April 13, down by 0.6% from $24.57 per cwt on Thursday April...Read More

(IDEX Online) - British jeweler Graff has become the latest to announce a donation to combat coronavirus. It's giving $1m through the Graff Foundation charity to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, set up by the United Nations Foundation. The money will go towards critical work tracking and understanding the spread of the virus, providing patients and frontline workers with appropriate car...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized sheet in the United States declined after the suspension of manufacturing operations throughout the country reduced the demand for steel. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US fell to $35 per hundredweight ($700 per short ton) on Thursday April 9, down from $36.50 per cwt ($730 per ton) on Thursday April 2. Fast...Read More

Argentinian crude steel production fell by 26.7% year on year in March due to the closure of most plants during a mandatory quarantine enforced by the federal government to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, national steel chamber Acero Argentino said.The country produced 286,200 tonnes of crude steel last month compared with 390,700 tonnes in the corresponding month of 2019, the associatio...Read More

Prices in the major global steel billet markets increased in the week to Friday April 10 because of scrap prices rising due to reduced availability; some deals were heard at higher prices during the week.In Turkey, scrap import prices increased strongly amid reduced availability of material in the deep-sea markets, caused by the closing of scrapyards especially in the United Kingdom and United Sta...Read More

The Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry has postponed a duty reduction on billet and rebar for a period of six months until October 12, 2020, Egyptian sources informed Fastmarkets on Sunday April 12.The duty was supposed to be reduced on April 12.The Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry announced a definitive safeguard duty of 16% of the cif price and a minimum of $74 per tonne for steel bi...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Monday April 13, with sentiment lifted by strengthening futures, although some buyers decided to hold back amid mills' rising output.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,320-3,350 yuan ($472-476) per tonne, up 50-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,230 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said that spot prices in t...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More

The United States' April ferrous scrap market has come into focus in a thinly traded month, with many scrap dealers refusing to accept unattractive offers in a month plagued by a historically late start and weak demand.Detroit settled with prices retreating by $30 per gross ton on prime grades and $50 per ton on cut grades and shredded scrap, with only one mill in the region buying material.Fastma...Read More

The market for pig iron exports from the south of Brazil went down during the week ended Thursday April 9 on new sales to China.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $265 per tonne on Thursday, down from $297-300 per tonne on April 3.One sale...Read More

The pig iron market in the United States was quiet in the week to Thursday April 9 because domestic scrap prices had not been settled and the work week was shorter due to Good Friday.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $285-290 per tonne on Thursday, down from $290-300 per tonne a week earlier."Trade in the US [pig iron] market will resume...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices rose slightly on Monday April 13, although no transactions were heard during the day after active trading to end last week, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.29 per tonne, up $0.16 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $139.51 per tonne, up $1.26 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $120.01 per tonne, unchangedHard cokin...Read More

The seaborne iron ore market moved up on Monday April 13, with a persistent tightness in the supply of low-alumina and high-grade products from Brazil bolstering prices. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.60 per tonne, up $0.83 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.26 per tonne, up $1.06 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $74.62 per to...Read More

The seaborne iron ore pellet market dropped slightly last week, with European and Indian-origin materials being offered into China in what a seller source described as "sort of a price war."Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao stood at $114.62 per tonne last Thursday April 9, down by $0.21 per tonne from a week earlier. Demand for pellets was heard to be weak in...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 12 points in pre-opening trade;Crude oil gained $0.31 to $23.07 after OPEC and its allies agreed to reduce their oil production quotas by 9.7 million barrels from May 1st to June 30th.Starbucks slipped $0.54 to $73.34 after Wedbush lowered its target price from $84 to $71.Carnival dropped $0.35 to $12.07 after Wedbush...Read More

China's ferrous scrap market plummeted over the past three weeks due to destocking pressure on sellers coupled with low procurement rates among mills, which sent prices to their lowest in close to two years.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap heavy scrap domestic, delivered mill China was 2,200-2,360 yuan ($313-335) per tonne including value-added tax last Friday April 10, down by 210-23...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices kept moving upward on Monday April 13 on strengthening demand from the construction sector. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,460-3,490 yuan ($491-496) per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,400-3,430 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonne from 3,370-3,400 yuan per tonne last FridayDemand in both key spot markets was strong during the day, with gains being...Read More

Deliverable base metals stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were down across the board in the week to Friday April 10, with that for copper dropping the most in percentage terms.SHFE copper stocks declined by 4.4% or 14,507 tonnes week on week to total 317,928 tonnes on April 10.The outflow mainly came from the warehouses of Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai and Zhongchu Wuxi in Jia...Read More

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