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

Brace yourselves, winter is coming! It may be a harsh period for the United States, but much better for gold.Some of you may have seen snow this year already, but the astronomical winter is still ahead of us. Unfortunately, it could be a really dark winter. Instead of joyful snowball battles and making snowmen, we will have to contend with the coronavirus . The vaccines will definitely help (the f...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 15 that are worth another look.Brazilian flat steel sales from distributors fell in November compared with the previous month due to limited supply from steelmakers but increased on an annual basis, according to national flat steel...Read More

China Copper became the head negotiator in the settlement of the 2021 copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) benchmark following years of expansion in copper capacity.On Monday December 14, the subsidiary of Chinalco - which has outgrown its state-owned peers - became the first smelter to secure a deal with US copper miner Freeport-McMoRan at $59.50 per tonne/5.95 cents per lb....Read More

A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday December 15.Please click...Read More

LME base metals prices were mixed on Tuesday December 15, with three-month copper and lead prices rising, while nickel fell below Monday's close despite setting a new year-to-date high earlier in the day.Nickel's three-month price failed to hold at the new year-to-date high of $17,880 per tonne reached during the day and fell back to $17,557 per tonne by 5pm - 0.2% lower than Monday's cl...Read More

Premium hard coking coal cfr and fob prices diverged slightly on Tuesday December 15, with the premium hard coking coal cfr price up and fob price down, sources told Fastmarkets. Some coke producers in China proposed a ninth round of price increases - with an increase of 50 yuan ($8) per tonne starting from December 15 - and some steel mills accepted the proposal, sources said.Fastmarkets ind...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US flat product prices maintained momentum through November, with increases accelerating in early December in response to supply shortfalls, rising scrap prices, and improving demand.While we correctly forecast further pricing gains in November, actual prices surpasse...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese domestic and export flat steel prices surged in November 2020, with the export hot-rolled coil index rising to $592 per tonne during the month from $519 per tonne previously, and the monthly average increasing by 7.5% over October.Economic activity in China continued to expand, with manufacturing output rising by 7.5...Read More

Almost EVERY RECORD in the history of Silver was broken this year, and there are still 2 weeks left!by Bix Weir of Road to RootaAlmost EVERY RECORD in the history of Silver was broken this year from the most COMEX silver delivered, the most mines shuttered, the most extreme highs & lows, the highest silver ETF inflows, the highest Silver/Gold Ratio (125-1!) and of course...the biggest FINES EVER i...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Key ferro-alloy forecast highlights for the coming months:?EUR? A strong recovery in both bulk and noble alloys is expected in 2021 but the markets are unlikely to return to the levels seen before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen a quicker-than-expected recovery across various regions amid the economic fal...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More

Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy increased significantly in the month to Tuesday December 15, supported by the global uptrend as well as a material shortage in the domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E3 (old thick scrap), domestic, delivered mill, Italy was ?,?260-265 ($316-322) per tonne on  December 15, up b...Read More

Domestic ferrous scrap prices in Germany increased significantly in the month to Tuesday December 15, following the trend in the international market and supported by limited supplies, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap No E3 (old thick steel scrap), domestic, delivered mill, Germany, was ?,?285-310 ($346-376) per tonne on December 15, up by ?,?240-245 p...Read More

LME base metals prices were mixed on Tuesday December 15, with three-month copper and lead prices rising, while nickel fell below Monday's close despite setting a new year-to-date high earlier in the day.Nickel's three-month price failed to hold at the new year-to-date high of $17,880 per tonne reached during the day and fell back to $17,557 per tonne by 5pm - 0.2% lower than Monday's cl...Read More

The European Commission released legislative proposals on December 10 aiming to create a legal framework on sustainability, traceability and circularity of battery production throughout its life cycle.The proposal comes as the uptake of electric vehicles (EV) gains pace across European countries and to provide legal certainty for battery investments within Europe. This is in line with the European...Read More

Recurring protests have led to a fire at the mine and associated infrastructure at Vale New Caledonia (VNC), the Brazilian company said on Monday December 14. Firefighters and military forces spent the night at the site to control the incident, Vale said. The processing plant, 7 km away from the mine, was not affected, it added. Vale struck a deal with a consortium comprised of employees and...Read More

RAPAPORT... What if the pandemic presents the largest growth opportunity the jewelry industry hasever seen? Covid-19 and lockdowns have effectively wiped out in-person shopping, but they've also forced the jewelry industry as a whole to embrace e-commerce. The resulting data, if used correctly, can result in a long-overdue industry-wide recalibration that will dramatically improve efficiency and t...Read More

RAPAPORT... Belgium's polished-diamond exports fell 9% year on year to $612 million in November, marking the third consecutive month of decline. The slowdown reflects a 7% drop in shipments to the US, for a total of $194 million, according to data the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) released this week.Belgium trade data for November 2020  Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Tuesday December 15, with nickel being the only metal to see a rise of more than 0.5%, despite positive Chinese economic data. Nickel continues its upward trend, rising by 0.68% to $17,710 per tonne as at 9am London time, from Monday's 5pm closing price of $17,590 per tonne.The stainless-steel additive...Read More

RAPAPORT... A Canadian court has consented to Dominion Diamond Mines' sale of its Ekati site and most of its assets to two of its bondholders.Under the agreement, DDJ Capital Management and Brigade Capital Management are set to acquire "substantially all" of the miner's assets, except for its 40% stake in the Diavik mine, which it shares with Rio Tinto. In return, the purchasers will assume a numb...Read More