Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil across Europe inched upward over the week to Friday October 16, with buyers expecting prices to rise further.Buyers expected that the mills would soon announce the next round of increases in offer prices.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?495.83 ($580.74) per tonne on October 16, up by ?,?2.33...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday October 19 that are worth another look....Read More

Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann, chief executive officer of German steelmaker Salzgitter, will retire in mid-2021, the company said on Saturday October 17. Fuhrmann will remain in the position of CEO until his employment contract ends on June 30, 2021, the company confirmed. "Chief executive officer Prof Dr-Ing Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann will have reached the...Read More

The world's largest ferrous scrap market is set to get a boost from the impending launch of a futures contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).The scrap futures contract will be based on shredded scrap, which is one of the key steelmaking raw materials for steel mills in China and can be used by all kinds of furnaces, DCE senior manager Yang Shuai said at an industry conference in south...Read More

The silver price suppression game has put our entire global financial system in jeopardy...by Bix Weir of Road to RootaThe silver price suppression game has put our entire global financial system in jeopardy. It is the Achilles Heal of the global banking/control system and has put my country, the United States of America, in the most vulnerable position we've ever been in since our inception in 17...Read More

The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday October 19, rallying by more than 2.5% against positive forward spreads and robust demand.Meanwhile, a firm contango for LME tin resulted in high trading volumes pushing the metal's outright price to a 14-month high.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,491 per tonne on M...Read More

With the caveat that he was making "a strange presentation in a strange year," ED&F Man's Ed Meir described the recent rebound in the London Metal Exchange three-month nickel as "stunning" during the LME Week metals debate on Monday October 19. LME nickel futures are currently trading up 40% on the $11,142-per-tonne year-to-date low hit on March 23 when Covid-19 industrial shutdown measures sent s...Read More

The price of lead is down 23% year-on-year and its weak long-term outlook means it will continue to underperform going into 2021, Tom Mulqueen, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading, said.Speaking at this year's virtual LME Week, Mulqueen said the high level of London Metal Exchange stocks and a lack of strong speculative support are also pressuring the lead price."Long-term, lead lacks th...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Speaking after ConocoPhillips announced it will take over Concho Resources in a $9.7 billion all-stock deal, Robert Clarke, vice president, Lower 48 upstream, at Wood Mackenzie, said: “The combination is remarkable. Just in scal...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Once the deal closes, Chevron will be the second-largest producing major in 2019 terms. It was fourth.The acquisition makes the Majors' peer group much more polarised. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP are now in a league of their own...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Wood Mackenzie, in partnership with WisdomTree, has launched an exchange traded fund (ETF) providing investors with exposure to the growth in the demand for, and the usage of, energy storage technologies, and in particular batteries.T...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.The outbreak of coronavirus, the oil price crash and the impending global recession present an enormous challenge for energy and natural resources. How are you keeping up with the spread of Covid-19 and its impact on your sector?We&rs...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.The coronavirus pandemic has had a massive impact on every part of the global economic system. In response, unprecedented stimulus measures have boosted many countries’ debt-to-GDP ratios to levels not seen since WWII. But even...Read More

Spot demand for cobalt metal has remained at minimal levels in recent weeks, leading market participants to question the level of discount that would be achievable in the forthcoming "mating season."Sellers confirmed on Monday October 19 that consumers continued to take any additional requirements of metal from long-term contracts, enjoying discounted prices arranged last year.This has left only t...Read More

RAPAPORT... The board of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has elected Chaim Pluczenik as president, a spokesperson for the trade organization said Monday.Pluczenik, owner of Antwerp-based dealer Pluczenik Diamond Company, replaces Nishit Parikh, who chose not to run for reelection following two years in the position. The new vice presidents are Bart De Hantsetters, representing the man...Read More

RAPAPORT... Production at Gahcho Ku?(C) rose in the third quarter as Mountain Province mined from a higher-grade portion of the deposit.Ore from the asset yielded 2.19 carats of rough diamonds per tonne in the three months ending September 30, 27% higher than the same period a year ago. Total output rose 17% to 1.8 million carats, Mountain Province, which owns 49% of the asset, said last week. De...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales at Luk Fook slumped in the second fiscal quarter as the Hong Kong-based jeweler suffered from a continued slowdown in tourism and local demand in its home city.Group-wide same-store sales - at branches open for at least a year - fell 55% year on year during the three months ending September 30, the retailer reported Friday. This reflected a 63% slide in Hong Kong and Ma...Read More

The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday October 19, rallying by more than 2.5% against positive forward spreads and robust demand.Meanwhile, a firm contango for LME tin resulted in high trading volumes pushing the metal's outright price to a 14-month high.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,491 per tonne on M...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Two pieces of diamond jewelry given by Queen Victoria to her goddaughters around 150 years ago are to be auctioned in England.The first lot is a locket (pictured) gifted to aristocrat Lady Victoria Scott on her wedding in 1865, which is set with diamonds, emeralds and rubies.The second is a 19th century pearl and diamond brooch/pendant given to Lady Victoria's daughter Victori...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lab-grown diamonds should be sold with second-tier reports, giving details of their manufacture, rather than 4C gradings, says CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation.It is keen to preserve the distinction between manufactured diamonds and natural stones - for which "rarity is a critical factor".CIBJO has released a Laboratory Grown Diamond Guidance document, the final stage of a...Read More