Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More
The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More
London Mtal Exchange three-month base metals prices rebounded on Tuesday November 24, with copper and nickel leading the way, after a correcting session had resulted in across-the-board declines on Monday.Copper and nickel led the way with day-on-day increases of more than 1.5% on their three-month prices. Prices were also supported by a lower US dollar index, which fell to 92.30 at around 5pm on...Read More
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased day on day on Tuesday November 24, supported by tight supplies, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?545.05 ($646.61) per tonne on Tuesday, up by ?,?2.55 per tonne from ?,?542.50 per tonne on Monday November 23.The index was up by ?,?15.47 per to...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. reported a sharp jump in profit in the third fiscal quarter as sales in China surged and consumer spending shifted to higher-margin items.Net earnings rose 52% to $119 million in the three months ending October 31, buoyed also by a lower tax rate, the US jeweler said Tuesday. Group sales fell 1% year on year to $1 billion, a gentler decline than analysts had expe...Read More
RAPAPORT... Switzerland's G? 1/4 belin Gem Lab has launched a scoring system for colored gemstones based on wine ratings, claiming that the industry lacked a common method of describing quality and uniqueness.The numerical scale takes into account three factors: quality, rarity and salience - referring to the stone's ability to "stand out from the crowd," G? 1/4 belin said last week. Stones w...Read More
RAPAPORT... The National Retail Federation (NRF) has forecast strong growth in US holiday sales, as consumers look for something to celebrate even as coronavirus cases rise.Retail sales in November and December are forecast to advance 3.6% to 5.2% year on year, for a total of between $755.3 billion and $766.7 billion, the organization noted Monday. The average increase over the past five years was...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers will associate its corporate identity more closely with Forevermark, enabling the diamond-jewelry brand to benefit from group-wide efforts in the realm of sustainability and responsible sourcing."Aligning Forevermark more closely with the De Beers name will ensure Forevermark more directly maximizes the benefit of its association with De Beers, and that we have a single,...Read More
Canadian zinc miner Trevali has moved to hedge a significant portion of its 2021 zinc production at current price levels, with exchange prices at 18-month highs.Trevali hedged 25% of its 2021 production, equivalent to 26,988 tonnes, at a price of $1.23 per lb or $2,712 per tonne, it said in a notice to shareholders on Tuesday November 24.The current December 2021-December 2022 forward price spread...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Swiss company Synova says its automated diamond cutting technology can now handle fancy shapes as well as rounds.The DaVinci Diamond Factory was unveiled last September, promising to reduce production time from "from some weeks to only a few hours".The company, part-owned by De Beers, has now expanded the system (pictured) beyond round-brilliants to cut fancies as well."We've...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Three people have been arrested over the last November's $1bn raid on Germany's historic Green Vault museum - described as the world's biggest heist.Stolen treasures included the famous 18th century 49-carat Dresden white diamond bought by August the Strong, then Elector of Saxony, and valued at $12m, as well as a sword encrusted with nine large and 770 smaller diamo...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swiss technology provider Synova has expanded its automated diamond-cutting system to include fancy shapes. The company, which is part-owned by De Beers, unveiled the DaVinci Diamond Factory last year at the Dubai Diamond Conference. Synova claims the machine will significantly speed up diamond manufacturing from weeks to hours, improve accuracy and symmetry, and reduce costs. How...Read More
Trader Tiberius Group has appointed Bob Katsiouleris to its executive management board as part of the company's drive to expand its global footprint, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday November 24.Katsiouleris will join Tiberius with immediate effect, and will help to drive its position as a global market participant in the trading of aluminium, lead and zinc, it added.He will also help to bu...Read More
Fastmarkets is issuing a consultation on its proposal to discontinue pricing the physical tin markets on a seaborne basis to China.China is the world's top producer of tin, for example, in 2019 it was the ranked as the 16th biggest importer, taking in just 3,000 tonnes.Imports have risen substantially in 2020 but buying has been sporadic and market participants have indicated that this is not a su...Read More
Fastmarkets is issuing a consultation on its proposal to discontinue pricing the physical copper cathode premiums on a seaborne basis to Japan.Japan is a major producer of grade A registered refined copper cathodes and exports more than half-a-million tonnes per year of refined copper, importing only negligible amounts.The price to be discontinued is:MB-CU-0385-copper grade A cathode premium, cif...Read More
Imports of finished steel to the United States surged month on month in October due to higher bloom, billet and slab, reinforcing bar and cold-rolled sheet volumes, according to US Census Bureau data.The US imported 1.36 million tonnes of steel products in October, up 18.9% from nearly 1.15 million tonnes in September, preliminary Census data showed.Imports of bloom, billet and slab climbed by 191...Read More
Brazilian flat steel distributors increased their sales volumes by 17% on an annual comparison in October, in a recovering domestic market, according to local distribution association, Inda.Sales totaled 371,700 tonnes in October, compared with 317,700 tonnes in October 2019, Inda said on Tuesday November 24. Month on month, volumes were down 7.8% from September's 403,100 tonnes.In total...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia increased over the past week because of globally strong demand, but buyers were holding back in the expectation that prices will soon fall, sources said on Tuesday November 24.There is a national holiday in the UAE on December 1-3, so working days will be limited next week.UAEHot-rolled coil from Indian suppliers...Read More
Steel billet and rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates increased this week, although most producers were fully booked and were not offering any products, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday November 24.Domestic rebarThe country's steel producers were offering rebar at 1,984,1,985 dirhams ($540) per tonne ex-works, with orders to be produced in December, but only a few producers had allocat...Read More
European steelmakers need to consolidate to gain better control over pricing and the supply-demand balance as well as to better tackle rising production costs, but it will not solve the major problems of the European flat steel market, sources told Fastmarkets.And in November 2020, rumors about two major potential sales of European mills have finally been confirmed: Tata Steel in Netherlands is in...Read More
Trader Afrimet Resources (AMR) will invest up to C$650,000 ($497,000) in Canadian exploration company Tantalex Resources Corp in a private placement that gives AMR shares and rights to buy additional shares in Tantalex.As part of the transaction, Hadley Natus, AMR's founder, becomes director and chairman of the board of Tantalex - one of many management changes announced by Toronto-based Tantalex...Read More
The base metals on the London Metal Exchange were firmer across the board this morning, Tuesday November 24, although those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed following the weakness seen on the LME on Monday.* US president-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen to become Treasury Secretary...* ...the market seems to see Yellen as a safe pair of hands*...Read More