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

(IDEX Online) - Visitors to the USA's only active diamond mine recovered over 80 carats last year. The Crater of Diamonds State Park, near Murfreesboro, in Arkansas, charges day trippers $10 a day to sift the soil - and lets them keep any gems they find. It says 2020 was a record-breaking year, despite an enforced closure form March to May because of coronavirus. The largest find was a 9.07-c...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes at steady prices on Thursday January 27, after reviving their interest in imports on Wednesday following a sharp downturn in scrap values, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a cargo from the United States, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $416 per tonne, shredded at $421 per tonne and bonus scrap at $4...Read More

(IDEX Online) - British jeweler David Morris is breaking the mold by launching a high-end collection online, rather than through a virtual presentation at the Paris haute couture week.It's partnering with Farfetch, the British-Portuguese luxury fashion retail platform to give buyers their first glimpse of its Renaissance range.Among the high-value one-off pieces on offer are the Monsoon Neckl...Read More

The shortage of container shipping is a "snowballing problem" that is impeding exports of scrap products from the United States, according to industry participants at a recent virtual meeting of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI).The global tightness in containers supply, combined with the confusion surrounding China's implementation of their new policy for copper scrap imports, is...Read More

A summary of Anglo American's output figures for the fourth quarter and full-year 2020, according to its production report released on Thursday January 28.In brief Copper output in the fourth quarter jumped year on year amid a material increase at the Los Bronces mine in Chile, the company said. A planned downtime at Collahuasi, also in Chile, hindered further copper production growth during...Read More

Key information from the pricing session for Fastmarkets' alumina index, fob Australia on Wednesday January 27.Fastmarkets' Alumina index adjustment to fob Australia index, Brazil differential compared to Australian units was at a narrow discount of $0.23 per tonne on Thursday January 28 - the narrowest discount since it was trading at a premium of $2.61 per tonne in September 2020.Key driversA de...Read More

The winners of Fastmarkets' Apex 2020 price forecast contest set out their projections for factors that will most influence base metals, precious metals and steel raw material prices in 2021, with Covid-19 vaccinations a constant. Base metals ED&F Man's Edward Meir, who took the top price for base metals predictions in 2020, sees firm base metals prices in 2021. "The reason we're not super bullish...Read More

Trading company Glencore has joined the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) as a production and transformation member, ASI said on January 27. "Responsibility is one of Glencore's values. We are committed to extracting and producing metals, minerals and energy products that meet our stakeholders' social, ethical, environmental and human rights expectations," Robin Scheiner, head of the aluminiu...Read More

Neo Lithium moving closer to productionSPONSOREDneo lithiumPantoro charging towards second gold mineSPONSOREDpantoro limitedMaximus ready to resume search for more Wattle Dam richesSPONSOREDmaximus resourcesOceanaGold marks three decades of gold standard mining SPONSOREDoceanagoldAnglo reported Q4 copper production of 167,800 tonnes, up 6% year-on-year and up 1% quarter-on-quarter, a rise the comp...Read More

Rio Tinto has created a new executive team and organizational structure to strengthen its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) credentials and rebuild trust, "particularly in Australia", following the destruction of one of the country's oldest Aboriginal heritage sites last year. "To achieve these goals, Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm has appointed a permanent chief exec...Read More

While steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States have held steady over the past week, market participants were leery of procuring more material given expectations that ferrous scrap costs may decline during next month's domestic trade. Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US held at $39.75 per hundredweight ($795 per short ton) on Wednesday January 27....Read More

Demand for steel rebar was very weak in Egypt in the week to Thursday January 28, with buyers expecting producers to reduce their prices.The rebar producers, however, had not changed their prices at the time Fastmarkets made its price assessment.One of the main reasons for weak rebar demand was the construction ban in the country. Egypt imposed a ban on construction in May 2020, although it eased...Read More

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal has increased its official spot offer prices for coil products across Europe by ?,?20-30 ($24-36) per tonne with immediate effect, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 28.New offers for hot-rolled coil have increased to ?,?750 per tonne ex-works, up by ?,?20 per tonne, while new offers for hot-dipped galvanized coil moved up by ?,?30 per tonne to ?,?880 per tonne e...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part weaker this morning, Thursday January 28, after market sentiment across the board has turned more cautious.* Asian-Pacific equities and major western pre-market equity index futures were weaker this morning* US Dollar Index firmed on Wednesday while equities sold-offBase metalsThere were more falle...Read More

Turkish prices for steel billet have continued to soften over the past week because of limited demand and falling scrap costs, market sources said on Thursday January 28.Imported scrap prices have been falling in the country, with mills slowing their bookings due to the weak demand for billet and finished steel.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, w...Read More

Domestic steel rebar and wire rod prices in Turkey have gone down over the past week in response to falling scrap costs and soft demand in the local market, sources said on Thursday January 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 5,200-5,300 lira ($705-718) per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's 5,450-5,550 lira per tonne.The steel...Read More

Turkish export prices for steel rebar and wire rod continued to fall over the past week, in line with the decreasing scrap costs that have resulted from weak demand, sources said on Thursday January 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $600-620 per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's $620-630 per tonne fob on an actual we...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 6 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures recovered slightly following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for fourth quarter annualized real U.S. GDP was an increase of 4.0% versus a gain of 33.4% in the third quarter. Actual was 4.0%. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 875,000 versus upwardly...Read More

Bangladeshi steelmakers avoided steel scrap imports over the past week and instead focused on procuring material from the domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 28.Bangladeshi mills are concerned the market will keep going down and are, therefore, reluctant to complete import deals in the current market climate, a Bangladeshi steelmaker source said.Domestic sc...Read More

Iron ore prices fell on Thursday January 28, with weak mill margins and expected crude steel production cuts weighing on market sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $157.42 per tonne, down $9.17 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $158 per tonne, down $8.65 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $143.81 pe...Read More