Major blow to the EU! The populist Five Star Movement won about one-third of the votes in the Italian general elections. It's another negative shock for the European establishment. Will these stars shine on gold? Five Stars Movement TriumphsWe live in strange times. To be a hairstylist, you need a license. But you can become a politician being just a comedian and telling jokes. We refer here to...Read More

Local and imported rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia remained unchanged this week although the price of steel billet imports into the UAE increased, sources told Metal Bulletin on Tuesday March 6. Demand for locally produced rebar in the UAE was still strong. Domestic rebar The major rebar producers in the UAE rolled over their prices for March and April production las...Read More

There are websites that offer short tests that claim to tell you if you might qualify for Mensa. That's the group for the Continue...Read More

The rising interest-rate trend in the US isn't new and isn't related to the Fed's so-called "policy normalisation" program. However, it has only just started to matter.That the rising interest-rate trend isn't new and isn't related to the Fed's rate-hiking efforts is clearly illustrated by the following chart. This chart shows that the US 2-year T-Note yield began trending upward in 2011 more...Read More

- RaboDirect Ireland to close online savings accounts in Irish market on May 16- RaboDirect holds over EUR3 billion in deposits from its 90,000 Irish customers- Irish savers now exposed to still indebted Irish banks and bail-ins- Marian Finucane heard recently that buying gold is for "ordinary people" and not just for "rich and posh people"- By owning gold "if banks go belly up again you woul...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices remained in a downward trend on Tuesday March 6 amid high selling interest among stockists. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,920-4,000 yuan ($618-631) per tonne, down 50-80 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 4,030-4,060 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonne Stockists lowered their prices in an attempt to secure more sales since they have a lot of inventory....Read More

Limited offers and bullish sentiment resulted in import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia rising further over the past week and those for slab in the wider region including East Asia to narrow upward.BilletMetal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $560-575 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday March 5, up $20 per tonne from a week earlier.Numerous deal...Read More

The Chinese vanadium market followed European prices upward last week, in its first full week since returning from the Chinese New Year break. Meanwhile, the US and European markets continued to strengthen on thinning stocks and healthy spot demand. Chinese vanadium prices surge after emerging from Chinese New Year European market continues uptrend in light of supply constraints US ferro-vanadium...Read More

Peter KrauthDespite muted action in silver over the past week, the precious metal continues to form a solid base. In fact, silver prices today (Tuesday) are already up 1.3% in morning trading.There were, nonetheless, two main market-related events last week that were extremely relevant for silver prices.The first was comments from the new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that, along with an imp...Read More

Chinese mining shutdowns drove tungsten concentrate and APT prices upward in the latest assessment, with European APT prices following suit. Chinese APT, concentrate prices bolstered by operation suspensions  European APT prices follow Chinese market upward  European ferro-tungsten market sees subdued spot demand The Chinese tungsten market rebounded significantly last week, and domesti...Read More

Chinese stainless mills issued higher ferro-chrome tender prices for the month of March, lending support to UG2 chrome ore and Asian ferro-chrome prices. UG2 chrome ore, Chinese contract prices increase on higher mill tender prices Japanese, South Korean prices bolstered by strengthened Chinese market European ferro-chrome prices firm on thinning supplies, expectations of higher benchmark US price...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading on Tuesday March 6 as SHFE copper, aluminium and nickel edged up, while SHFE zinc lost over 2%. Lead and tin both fell close to 1%.The ferrous complex continued to weaken with iron ore slipping close to 2%. Coke and hot-rolled coil were down almost 1%, while rebar and coking coal edged down slightly.Copper: SHFE copper touch...Read More

Car production in Mexico increased by 6.2% year on year in February, according to figures released by national automotive association Amia on Tuesday March 6. Output reached 328,352 units last month against 309,234 units in February 2017. Mexico exported 275,980 cars in February, an 11.2% increase from the 248,288 cars exported in the same...Read More

Car production in Brazil increased by 6.2% year-on-year in February 2018, led by higher sales to both the domestic and export markets,Output reached 213,500 units, compared with 201,100 vehicles a year earlier, according to figures released by national automobile association Anfavea on Tuesday March 6."Sales are on the rise and February's daily sales average was higher than in January, even...Read More

Demand for flat steel will remain strong in Turkey through March and price increases are expected to continue because producers are fully booked until late May, market participants told Metal Bulletin this week. "Producers are fully booked until mid-May, so they have increased their prices. And end-user demand is okay, so prices have some more room to rise," one trader said on March 2. "...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough diamond trading was robust in February, with De Beers notching $555 million in sales during the month. Prices remained strong, fueling concern among sightholders that their profit margins were tightening."We had a good few months, and polished prices have increased. That has encouraged the mining companies to raise their rough prices," a Mumbai-based supplier said at last we...Read More

China's major mills continued to raise their crude steel output rates in mid-February, which also led to an increase in inventory levels amid the Chinese New Year celebrations in the country.Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) produced crude steel at an average rate of 1.7996 million tonnes per day during the second 10 days of February, up 14,900...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) – The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s copper downstream industries is expected to be 54.61 in March, according to SMM survey. This would compare with 38.43 in February. For editorial queries, please contact Daisy Tseng at daisy@smm.cn For more information on how to access our research reports, please email service.en@smm.cnRead More

(IDEX Online News) - There was a moderate decline in the IDEX polished diamond price index during February.   Diamond Prices Show Multi-Month Decline Polished diamond prices have moved in a downward direction for the past 18 months.     Outlook   The global diamond centers reported solid activity overall, with industry restocking after a successful holiday sales season, and...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company garnered $1.7 million at its secondrough sale of 2018, achieving an average price of $804 per carat. The miner sold 2,072 carats at the tender, it said in arecent statement. The diamonds are from the company's Lulo alluvial mine inAngola. The largest stone Lucapa sold weighed 44 carats. The company alsooffered a 1.9-carat vivid pink diamond. Lucapa's first tender...Read More