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

The price of domestic hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe inched further upward day-on-day on Monday December 7, with sentiment remaining upbeat due to a shortage of material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?576.67 ($698.90) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?1.67 per tonne from ?,?575.00 per tonne on December 4....Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you have missed on Monday December 7 that are worth another look.Brazilian exports of ferrous scrap plummeted in November 2020 with the country's industry focused on the domestic market, although Bangladesh remained the principal destination for the shipments that were made, data from...Read More

Lead and zinc prices posted the biggest gains by the 5pm close on the London Metal Exchange on Monday December 7, with the rest of the complex remaining largely flat but at high levels. Lead's three-month price closed at $2,076 per tonne, a 2.4% increase on Friday's closing price of $2,027.50 per tonne.Its sister metal, zinc, also experienced a rise of 1% to close the day's trading at $2,786.50 pe...Read More

Market participants are split on whether rising aluminium premiums in Asia are bullish or bearish for premiums in Europe. Higher premiums in China make it more lucrative to focus on that region rather than on Europe, the majority of participants told Fastmarkets throughout last week. This is propelling the Rotterdam premium higher by driving tonnages away from this market. Fastmarkets assessed the...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged up on Monday December 7, with active trading in the fob market late last week.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $103.07 per tonne, up $0.45 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $169.52 per tonne, up $0.74 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $92.68 per tonne, down $0.29 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jin...Read More

Market participants are split on whether rising aluminium premiums in Asia are bullish or bearish for premiums in Europe. Higher premiums in China make it more lucrative to focus on that region rather than on Europe, the majority of participants told Fastmarkets throughout last week. This is propelling the Rotterdam premium higher by driving tonnages away from this market. Fastmarkets assessed the...Read More

Transaction prices for domestic steel hot-rolled coil continued to rise across Europe in the week to Friday December 4, due to tight supply from both domestic and overseas suppliers.Following a rise in deal prices, at the end of last week ArcelorMittal pushed official spot offer prices for its second-quarter rolling HRC across Europe to ?,?650.00 ($788) per tonne ex-works with immediate effect. Th...Read More

Monthly imports of used beverage can (UBC) scrap to the United States increased in October, according to the most recent trade data.Total UBC imports rose 13% to 13,331 short tons in October from 11,796 tons in September. UBC imports to the US came predominantly from Canada, which was responsible for over 62% - or 8,299 tons - of total imports, though volumes fell 4.6% month on month from 8,700...Read More

A rising price for copper supplies, material imports and strategic stockpiling in China, and stimulus based on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) were identifed by industry analysts as the factors that would most strongly influence the copper market in 2021, during Fastmarkets' Copper Analysts Panel webinar on Thursday December 3.Here are the main takeaways:Imports, stockpiling i...Read More

Deliverable stock volumes of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses were mostly mixed in the week to Friday December 4, with lead inventories up by 9%, the biggest change in percentage terms. Stability in tin stocks was the notable exception.Lead stocks rose by 3,219 tonnes week on week to 39,122 tonnes, from 35,903 tonnes the week before.The largest inflow of lead stocks w...Read More

The price of European aluminium ingot 226 hit its highest since August 2018 in the week to Friday December 4 after an ongoing shortage of scrap raw materials lead to offers, bids and deals at elevated levels, while market participants struggle to secure tonnages for the first quarter of 2021, Fastmarkets was told.Fastmarkets assessed the price of aluminium diecasting ingot DIN226/A380, delivered E...Read More

RAPAPORT... Pandora expects sales to weaken in December amid lower foot traffic due to Covid-19 restrictions and an earlier start to the holiday shopping period.The Danish jeweler began its festive shopping season earlier in November to manage social-distancing guidelines and the increase in online purchasing, it said Monday. "December trading is expected to be negatively impacted by these efforts...Read More

RAPAPORT... The organizers of the Hong Kong diamond and jewelry shows scheduled for March 2021 have pushed the events back to later in the year, citing continued travel restrictions.The Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show, which was due to take place from March 1 to 5, and the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show - scheduled for March 3 to 7 - will now run concurrently fro...Read More

The second deal for first-quarter aluminium ingot supply to main Japanese ports (MJP) was concluded at a premium of $130 per tonne cif MJP, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday December 7.The is the first producer sale for first-quarter supply and is for a minimum of 3,000 tonnes of aluminium ingot in total for January-March delivery. The premium is paid on top of the London Metal Exchange ca...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has unearthed a 127-carat rough from the newly mined floodplain area of its Lulo deposit in Angola.The company found the gem-quality diamond in mining block 24 of the leziria floodplains, an area it began mining in the fourth quarter of the year, Lucapa CEO Stephen Wetherall told Rapaport News Monday. The miner started operations at the adjoining mining block 06...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continue to escalate sharply in the absence of headwinds, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $43.89 per hundredweight ($877.80 per ton) on Monday December 7, up 3.2% from $42.53 per cwt on Friday December 4 and an increase of 10.2% from $39.83 per cwt one week earlier. Inputs wer...Read More

RAPAPORT... Diamond Foundry, one of the largest synthetics producers, has opened an international sales and distribution office in Dubai, citing the city's beneficial location and connections with diamond centers.The Silicon Valley-based company's new outpost will be within the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a state-funded trading hub encompassing diamonds and other sectors. The openi...Read More

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States strengthened for the third consecutive week after purchase-order volumes for January 2021 shipments at the mills proved to be sufficient to sustain recent price increases.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US climbed to $35 per hundredweight ($700 per short ton) on Friday December 4, up from $...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Ten women designers have each created a limited edition of 10 affordable engagement rings, all using ethically and sustainably sourced diamonds from Botswana. They were challenged to re-design the iconic symbol of love for the Ten/Ten project, all using diamonds under a carat from De Beers.  The 100 rings will be sold exclusively on Blue Nile from January.New York-based M...Read More

Brazilian vehicle output totaled 238,200 units in November 2020, a 4.7% year-on-year increase from 227,455 units, with exports recovering because of growth in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, national car manufacturers' association Anfavea said on Monday December 7.Production hit its highest level since October last year, and figures were the best for November since 2018, Anfavea president L...Read More