Seaborne coking coal prices retreated on Monday March 23, with fears of a global economic downturn taking hold due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), even though sentiment among Chinese participants was starting to become more optimistic.Fastmarkets IndicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.43 per tonne, down $1.22 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $...Read More
The spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is causing disruption to immediate supply chains and future demand forecasts across the technology and consumer electronics sector. Since the outbreak gathered pace in January 2020, companies including Apple and Samsung have closed plants, shifted production, and in some cases, revised revenue forecasts. The far-reaching effects of the virus on the g...Read More
Trading activity in the hot-rolled coil market in Northern Europe was slowed by closures at a number of vehicle manufacturers across Europe, although other consuming industries remained relatively active, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 23.But at the same time, trading activity in Southern Europe was close to zero, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil...Read More
Norsk Hydro will temporarily idle two European recycling operations - one each in France and Luxembourg - and will reduce or temporarily close some activities in its extruded solutions unit, mostly in southern Europe.The company warned that there could be impact on its rolled products business, which is largely running normally at present, in the coming days due to customers cl...Read More
South Africa will enter a 21-day nationwide lockdown from midnight on Thursday March 26 and ordered the country's metals and mining operations to be placed on care and maintenance. In an address to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the move was in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and would last until midnight on April 16. "Companies whose operations require...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price continued its downturn up to the close of trading on Monday March 23, falling over 3.5% and dipping below nearby support levels, while tin futures failed to hold on to Friday's gains. Nickel's underlying price on the LME closed at $10,880 per tonne on Monday afternoon, its lowest closing price since December 2018, while turnover was high at more t...Read More
New Caledonia's Koniambo nickel mine, a joint venture between Switzerland-based commodity and mining firm Glencore and local miner Soci?(C)t?(C) Mini??re du Sud Pacifique (SMSP), has cut production in a bid to protect employees amid the global novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic. While production has not stopped completely, sources close to the matter indicated that two smelters at the mine sit...Read More
Key pricing data from the alumina index, fob Australia pricing session on Monday March 23. Key drivers Fastmarkets' daily alumina index, fob Australia, to $272.41 per tonne on Monday from $275.47 per tonne on Friday March 20. The index is now at its lowest level since May 18, 2017, when the price was $272.10 per tonne. Marks a...Read More
Lead production at Glencore's San Gavino plant in Sardinia will cease on Monday March 23, but the company's zinc smelter Portovesme will continue operations, Fastmarkets understands.San Gavino refines lead and precious metals while Portovesme smelts zinc and lead from batteries...Read More
Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $28.04 per hundredweight ($560.80 per short ton) on Monday March 23, down slightly from $28.06 per cwt on Friday March 20 and 2.4% below $28.73 per cwt a week earlier on March 16. Leads times were generally four to six weeks. Inputs were received in a range of $27.50-29 per cwt - creating a spread of just $1.50 per cwt,...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis reveals that China’s crude stock (including strategic and commercial petroleum reserves) could reach 1.15 billion barrels in 2020, equivalent to 83 days of oil demand.Wood Mackenzie senior...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill will temporarily close all its Canadian stores amid the coronavirus pandemic, while locations in Australia and New Zealand currently remain open. The jeweler's Canadian stores are set to shut for a two-week period, but the company will reevaluate and may lift or extend the shutdown as necessary based on the health situation, it said last week. During the closure, most...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has appointed Nikolay Gorokhov head of its Vladivostok division.Gorokhov, who began working for Alrosa in 2001 in its Yakutsk Diamond Trading Company, will be responsible for rough-diamond sales in Vladivostok, the Russian miner said last week. He will also oversee logistics, Chinese market research and increasing the division's efficiency.Gorokhov replaces Semyon Lavrentiev, wh...Read More
RAPAPORT... The organizer of the Hong Kong shows scheduled for May has stopped preparations for the events, as quarantine rules in the municipality have made it impossible to host an international fair.Measures enforced by the Hong Kong government on March 19 require all travelers arriving in the city to isolate themselves for 14 days to stem a second wave of coronavirus cases. The rule will...Read More
NLMK USA plans to take a three-week outage in June to make upgrades to its flat-rolled steel mill in Portage, Indiana, the company's top executive said."We have a major skid project in Indiana that impacts the reheat furnace in Indiana," NLMK USA president and chief executive officer Bob Miller said in an email to Fastmarkets AMM.The project was planned in advance and is not the result of the Covi...Read More
RAPAPORT... The London Diamond Bourse (LDB) will close from Wednesday as the coronavirus spreads in the UK."The committee has come to the decision that it is in the best interest of our staff and members to close the bourse," the exchange said last week. "First and foremost, the LDB has a duty of care...and whilst we have been following rigorous health-and-safety guidance from Public Health E...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tiffany has reported a $4.4 billion profit for last year, matching its record high in 2018.It said its focus now was on a return to normal after the coronavirus pandemic.The New York-based jeweller said profits for Q4 were down two per cent to to $201 million, partly as a result of costs involved in the proposed $16bn acquisition by the French luxury goods group LVMH (Mo?? <
(IDEX Online) - Canada's oldest diamond mine has been closed to prevent further spread of coronavirus.Some employees claim they've been told it could be four months before the Ekati mine re-opens, according to local media reports. Ekati has been in operation at a remote location 300km north east of Yellowknife in Northwest Territories, close to the Arctic Circle, since 1998.Calgary-based...Read More
Tata Steel India is to install a slab conditioning line at its Kalinganagar works in the state of Odisha to serve the automotive market, equipment provider SMS Group said in a press release on Thursday March 19.The scarfing line will process slabs to remove surface and subsurface defects, which is required by some car manufacturers for steel to be used in vehicle-body applications.It is hoped that...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Signet, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, is closing all its North American stores, but those in the UK will remain open.As the coronavirus pandemic spreads globally, it says it is being guided by its "core value of People First". Staff will be paid until 4 April.All Signet's stores in the USA and Canada, most of them trading as Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared,...Read More