A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday August 20. Please click...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange continued to fall on Tuesday August 20, ending the day down by 0.3% at the afternoon kerb to $15,860 per tonne, compared with Monday's close at $15,920 per tonne.The LME's nickel inventory volumes stayed flat during the day's trading. The September/three-month spread was in a backwardation of $40 per tonne and the cash/three-month spread in...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices for premium hard coking coal materials firmed this week on continued buying activity from China. A cargo of top-quality Australian premium low-vol materials changed hands at $167.25 per tonne cfr China, with a mid-vol quality cargo changing hands at $160 per tonne cfr China, sources said on Tuesday August 20. The trades resulted in Fastmarkets' daily index for premium h...Read More

Gold and the dollar are at a crossroads in terms of relative performance.U.S. intervention to weaken the dollar is a possibility in coming months.Regardless, global tensions virtually assure continued strength for gold.The strange persistence of the strong dollar with the rising gold price has puzzled many participants this year. Some are even beginning to suggest that the dollar's inverse relatio...Read More

Cobalt prices have risen by more than 25% since Glencore announced it would close its Mutanda mine and in doing so bring forward expectations of a shortfall in cobalt supply. But with other projects ramping up or in the pipeline, stockpiles to be worked through, and a short-term approach to raw materials procurement, Chinese battery-related buyers are skeptical they will be affected by tightness i...Read More

Prices for most flat steel products imported into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decreased on lower offers heard in the week ended Tuesday August 20, with demand yet to recover after the Eid al-Adha religious holiday last week.The market was expected to improve later in the month, when the holiday season comes to an end.UAEOffers on imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from China and Japan...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday August 20 that are worth another look.Cobalt prices have risen by more than 25% since Glencore announced it would close its Mutanda mine and - in doing so - brought forward expectations of a shortfall in cobalt supply.Namibia-based tin mining company Afritin Mining has begun mining in the Erongo district of Namibia, producing it...Read More

Gold futures lost ground Monday, ending lower as renewed optimism on the trade front and talk of stimulus by global policy makers dulls investor appetite for havens. Gold for December delivery GCZ19, -0.01% fell $12, or 0.8%, to end at $1,511.60 an ounce, while September silver SIU19, -0.34% declined 18.2 cents, or 1.1%, to end at $16.94 an ounce. Gold saw its second daily decline after ending T...Read More

Namibia-based tin mining company Afritin Mining has begun mining in the Erongo district of Namibia, producing its first batch of tin concentrates from its Uis project, while the company also signed a 12-month offtake agreement with Thailand Smelting and Refining Co Ltd (Thaisarco). The Uis tin mine is situated in the Cape Cross-Uis tin pegmatite belt, an expansive mineralisation zone located in Na...Read More

Ahead of Fastmarkets' Battery Materials Europe conference in Amsterdam, find out what our industry experts think are the key drivers in the market and what's on the horizon. Fastmarkets will host a free web seminar on Wednesday September 18 at 3pm London time to discuss recent market moves in the battery raw materials sector. Click here to register for the webinar. Date Wednesday September 18, 201...Read More

The aurora borealis over Great Bear Lake where several old mine sites on the eastern shore are to be remediated. (Image: Reuters)YELLOWKNIFE, NWT - The federal government has announced it will invest $2.2 billion over the next 15 years for the cleanup of various mine sites in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.The announcement was made by the Hon. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Rel...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange declined during morning trading on Tuesday August 20, holding below $16,000 per tonne while aluminium futures moved higher.Recently trading around $15,800 per tonne, nickel's price action dipped by some 2% at Monday's close to settle at $15,920 per tonne. Volumes traded over the morning were thin, with some 1,100 lots of nickel changin...Read More

The development of the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will receive a financial boost following a second major strategic equity investment by China's Citic Metal in Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines.The mine is jointly owned by Ivanhoe Mines, Citic Metal and China's Zijin Mining.The Canadian $612-million ($459-million) investment brings Citic Metal's inve...Read More

Concerns about weak economic data, geopolitical headwinds and the risk of a slow slide toward global recession are dominating market sentiment; short-term relief may come from more concerted central bank stimulus, but the real cure will only likely come from a new trade deal.Equities and bond markets will no doubt react positively to easier monetary policy, but the metals are unlikely to be hoodwi...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) has appointed Erich Jacobspresident. He will succeed Richard Weisenfeld, who is retiring. Jacobs joined JBT in 2018 as vice president of informationtechnology, JBT said lastweek. Weisenfeld first became acting presidentin February 2018, following the retirement of Anthony Capuano, and took on the role permanently in May of that year. Jacobs will...Read More

RAPAPORT... Shares in Pandora rose 10% in early trading Tuesday as salesdeclines narrowed in key markets and restructuring efforts led to signs ofrecovery. Global sales fell 2.6% year on year to DKK 4.69 billion($697.2 million) in the second quarter, the Danish charm maker reportedTuesday. Same-store sales - at locations open for more than a year - fell 6% in the US, while sales in China slip...Read More

RAPAPORT... J.C. Penney and Macy's noted strong sales in their jewelrydivisions in the second fiscal quarter, even as overall results were disappointing."Our fine-jewelry business continues to deliver strong salesresults," J.C. Penney chief financialofficer Bill Wafford said last week on an analyst call transcribed by SeekingAlpha. Comparative-store sales for the division increased, he added....Read More

Prices for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates have remained stable over the past week, with demand poor after the Eid al-Adha religious holiday last week, sources said on Tuesday August 20.Market participants believed that demand would improve after the UAE's biggest producer, Emirates Steel, announced its new rebar price, which it usually does on the 20th day of each month.Domesti...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sotheby's has collaborated with Chinese jewelry designer Anna Hu on a five-piece collection featuring a 100-carat, fancy-intense-yellowdiamond necklace. Hu's Silk Road Music Collection will go under the hammer atthe October Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction in Hong Kong, with theDunhuang Pipa piece leading the sale. Inspired by the image of a lady playingthe pipa -a four-stri...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa has reduced its sales forecast for this year in light of sluggish rough demand in the second quarter.The company expects to sell between 32 million and 33 million carats of rough diamonds for 2019, compared to its previous plan of 38 million carats, it said Monday."The diamond market continued to be affected by a number of negative factors [in the second quarter] that had f...Read More