The London Metal Exchange intends to suspend all ring trading and move to full electronic pricing from next week if the United Kingdom's current directives restricting the movement of people in a bid to stop the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) remain in place."If current trends continue, the LME anticipates that it will temporarily move to fully electronic pricing on Monday 23 March...Read More
Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More
The new issue of the Steel Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers key insights and forecasts into the long and flat products markets.This week's risks to our latest flat-rolled forecasts:The Chinese government is stepping up help to the economy, increasing banks' liquidity. But the spread of the coronavirus worldwide is likely...Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
Three more European car manufacturers are set to close and halt production in response to the spread of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Fastmarkets learned on March 17.Car manufacturer Ford is set to close all continental European plants from Thursday March 19, "for a number of weeks," it said. Ford will close plants in Cologne and Saarlouis in Germany as well as Craiova in Romania while it's Valenci...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market because of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, sources said on Tuesday March 17.Steel mills in Turkey resumed their deep-sea bookings at lower prices last week after a long period of silence.However, with the news of more confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV, the trading in scrap and finished steel products came...Read More
A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian copper producer Paranapanema in the fourth quarter and full-year 2019.In brief Paranapanema had a 26-day maintenance stoppage in the fourth quarter at its Dias d'??vila unit, located in the Brazilian north-eastern state of Bahia, which significantly reduced output. The company raised its copper products sales volumes in line with its strategy to...Read More
Roughly 6 million tonnes per year of alumina refinery capacity in China has been curtailed due to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, opening opportunities for market participants in the West to sell extra material to the East asian country, a senior executive at Norsk Hydro has said.The shortfall has arisen with Chinese smelters continuing to produce material as normal despite the effects of the...Read More
Russian aluminium producer Rusal has allayed market fears about prices by vowing to maintain production output despite the global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Rusal said it was introducing further safety measures for its head-office employees to curb the spread of the virus."Rusal has introduced unprecedented measures across the whole company to ensure the u...Read More
Cerro Verde, the world's fourth-largest copper mine in output, will suspend operations and enter a 15-day care and maintenance period following the Peruvian government declaring a national state of emergency, owner and operator Freeport McMoRan said on Tuesday March 17.The 15-day period started on Monday March 16, with Cerro Verde working with authorities to 'be prepared and restart operations as...Read More
Brazilian multi-metals producer Nexa Resources may need to suspend its operations in Peru after the local government declared a state of emergency and closed its borders due to the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, the company said on Monday March 16.For now, the zinc-lead-copper producer is adopting preventive measures to follow authorities' health and safety recommendations, under a newly-create...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Kimberley Process (KP) Intersessional Meeting will take place as a virtual conference this year, as European borders close to travelers due to the coronavirus pandemic.The annual forum, in which member states, civil societies and the diamond industry come together, was scheduled to take place in Moscow from June 8 to 12."COVID-19 is a global challenge without parallel in our l...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
RAPAPORT... The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) has temporarily reduced fees for members due to the severe slowdown in trading resulting from the coronavirus outbreak.IDE president Yoram Dvash announced a 50% discount on membership charges and a 33% drop in maintenance fees for March and April. "We're talking about significant financial steps that add up to millions of shekels going straight in...Read More
ArcelorMittal Italia has decided to reduce its steel output and temporarily stop the operation of some equipment to secure the safety of workers during the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 17.ArcelorMittal and Italian trade unions Fim, Fiom, Uilm, Usb and Ugl have signed an agreement concerning the containment measures adopted by the company to contain...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's has rescheduled its Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale and other jewelry auctions amid new restrictions on public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic."We are closely monitoring the advice of government and health authorities in the countries and cities where Sotheby's is located and adjusting our business and operations accordingly," the auction house said Monday....Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond resources at Lucapa Diamond Company's Lulo alluvial mine in Angola are 25% higher than it originally estimated, according to an independent valuation.Lulo has 100,700 carats remaining in the mine, a December 2019 study by external consulting company Z Star Mineral Resource Consultants has found. That figure was reevaluated from a previous Lulo resource estimation conducted in D...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's gross exports of cut and polished diamonds slumped by more than 40 per cent last month because of the Covid-19 pandemic.Totals were down from $2.34bn in February 2019 to $1.38bn for this February, according to The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).But exports of gold jewelry were up, as were overseas sales of polished lab-grown diamonds, albeit from...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Russian mining giant Alrosa is allowing buyers to defer up to 60 per cent of their allocations at its regular contract sales.The move, effective as of yesterday's sale, is a sign of market uncertainty. In times of stability customers have been able to defer only 20 per cent of the stones offered.Alrosa, which last week reported a 31 per cent slump in 2019 profits, says b...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The American Gem Society (AGS) has canceled its Conclave, an annual education, social and networking event for jewelry traders.The event had been due to take place on April 27-29 in Denver, Colorado.Organizers took the decision amid growing concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic and said they were exploring the online option of a virtual mini-conference instead.Details of the 20...Read More