Domestic prices for flat-rolled steel in the United States are expected to remain high throughout the second quarter, but decrease slightly in the third and fourth quarters, although not significantly, Ternium chief executive officer M??ximo Vedoya said on Wednesday April 28.The executive said demand in the US was strong, and he doesn't expect any material improvement on the supply side this year....Read More

GOOD NEWS… The rebound in gold prices from their recent low has awakened new fervor among those looking for the elusive moonshot. The ‘obvious’ signs of much higher inflation have emboldened those who are inclined to predict ever higher gold prices.Contrastingly, the chart of GLD prices pictured below doesn’t look all that great… At this point, a further one-...Read More

The markets for high- and low-carbon ferro-chrome in Europe softened in the week ended Tuesday April 27 following weakening in the markets in Asia, particularly China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, 0.10% C, average 65-70% Cr, delivered Europe, was $1.87-2.36 per lb Cr on April 27, a fall of 4-26 cents per lb Cr (6.6%) from $2.13-2.40 per lb Cr on March 30.There was a big fall at t...Read More

An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey and Dalila Ouerghi...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 28 that are worth another look.Latin American steelmaker Ternium plans to focus mainly on supplying its own slab needs in Mexico and selling any excess to the domestic market via its slab mill in Brazil, chief executive officer M??ximo Vedoya said on...Read More

There may be significant swings in the prices and trade flows in the steelmaking raw materials market if the Covid-19 situation in India continues to worsen, sources told Fastmarkets.India has had a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks - breaching the 300,000 mark several times over the week to April 27 - while vaccinations fail to stem the tide of infections.Higher pellet pric...Read More

The Malaysian Smelting Corp (MSC) will only return to pre-pandemic smelting levels at the end of the year and will restrict its ore intake "both in respect of quantity and quality" in the coming months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company told suppliers this week.In a note to suppliers sent on Monday April 26, MSC said that the pandemic had "severely affected" its smelting capacity and that i...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices in the fob and cfr markets diverged on Wednesday April 28, with tight supply in the cfr market, especially for premium hard coking coal materials.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $112.21 per tonne, down by $1.25 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $225.00 per tonne, up by $2.28 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.62 per tonne, do...Read More

It's time to get to The Truth about silver, and we the people have to power to uncover it... by Craig Hemke via Sprott Money NewsThere are many of us "keyboard warriors" who believe that the current fractional reserve and digital derivative pricing scheme is unfair and rife with fraud. There are also a handful of system apologists who claim that the current scheme is fair and equitable and that s...Read More

Chinese copper smelters with tolling licenses have begun to export copper cathodes due to the emergence of an export arbitrage window between London and Shanghai, sources told Fastmarkets.The arbitrage window started to become viable in the latter part of last week, with the copper price on the London Metal Exchange strongly outperforming its counterpart on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The LME t...Read More

Get a clear picture on the status and the outlook of the silver market...by Claudio Grass with David Morgan via Claudiograss.chInterview with David Morgan: Part I of IIThe past year has been a remarkably interesting time for precious metals and especially for silver. The metal had spent many years in the shadow of its "big brother", but it made an impressive, roaring comeback that grabbed headlin...Read More

RAPAPORT... eBay has introduced an escrow service for purchases of expensive watches, aiming to enhance consumer trust in high-end digital shopping.The option allows buyers and sellers an "added convenience" via a "trusted" third party, Escrow.com, which holds funds until the transaction is complete, eBay said Monday. The online marketplace will not charge processing fees on transactions, and...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers is considering underground mining at its Jwaneng open-pit deposit in Botswana as a "likely approach" to extending the life of the world's most valuable diamond mine beyond the mid-2030s."The underground mining project is still in the study phase and is yet to be approved," a De Beers spokesperson said Tuesday in an email to Rapaport News. "If approved, it would have the potent...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gemfields clocked its highest auction revenue since March 2016 at a sale of emeralds from its Kagem mine in Zambia amid strong pricing and increased demand.Revenue from a series of five mini-auctions between March 15 and April 17 reached $31.4 million as 59 companies placed bids, Gemfields said last week. The miner sold 271,000 carats of emeralds at an average price of $116 per carat,...Read More

RAPAPORT... China's polished-diamond imports rose almost fivefold in the first quarter as the mainland retail market extended its recovery, according to data from the country's main bourse.Net shipments into China via the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) grew 393% year on year to $722 million during the three months ending March 31, the institution reported Tuesday. Import volume jumped 394% t...Read More

Domestic prices for European heavy steel plate increased further in the week to Wednesday April 28, supported by stronger demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?875-900 ($1,057-1,087) per tonne on April 28, up by ?,?35-50 per tonne from ?,?840-850 per tonne a week earlier.The assessment was based on transa...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelry buyers in western Europe are more likely to embrace lab-grown diamonds than those in the USA, says new research.Forty-one per cent said they'd bought or been given an LGD, compared with 32 per cent in the USA.More than 1,500 consumers in France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Great Britain took part in the survey, by market research consultants The MVEye. They had all spent...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Greenland's first ruby mine is receiving a huge financial boost with an $18m investment from a mining financier.It's been described as "one of the largest financings in colored gemstone history".Greenland Ruby opened its Project Aurora ruby and pink sapphire mining operation at Aappaluttoq, in the southwest of the country, in 2017 and predicts the deposit has a 10-year li...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe increased again on Wednesday April 28, due to the continuing shortage of materials and strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?987.50 ($1,192.64) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?14.17 per tonne from ?,?973.33 per tonne on Tuesday.The index was also up by...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Diamond Foundry aims to increase its production of lab-grown diamonds to 5 million carats a year.The Silicon Valley start-up, which counts Leonardo DiCaprio among its high-profile backers, plans to open a second factory abroad as it ramps up production from 500,000 carats by next year.The company, launched in 2012, has just received a new cash injection of $200m, taking its valuati...Read More