Brazilian slab exporters are enjoying their strongest margins in years, despite a steep steelmaking raw material cost inflation, with record-high finished steel prices in the United States supporting demand amid Section 232 quotas.Last month, the spread between Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil and the price for a basket of raw materials reached its widest s...Read More

Rio Tinto has achieved Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard certification for its ISAL aluminium smelter in Iceland, the company said.The certification is provisional - following an independent, remote audit - with an onsite audit to be completed when possible after the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions, the company said. Rio Tinto offers ASI-certified aluminium from ei...Read More

Singapore's rebar import prices are getting a boost from the new ferrous tax policies announced by China, market sources said.China's Ministry of Finance said on April 28 that there will be no taxes for semi-finished steel, such as billet, causing buyers in Asia to rush to procure cargoes in anticipation of shortages in the spot market if China starts purchasing more quantities.This has cause...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday May 3 that are worth another look.Brazilian slab exporters are enjoying their strongest margins in years, despite a steep steelmaking raw material cost inflation, with record-high finished steel prices in the United States supporting...Read More

The CME Group's cash-settled lithium futures contract, which is settled against Fastmarkets' assessment for the lithium hydroxide battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & Korea, was traded for the first time on Monday May 3. A total five tonnes was traded at $14.25 per kg on Monday, the same...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Jewelry Industry Summit (JIS) is turning its attention to environmental issues in its next webinar taking place on May 5. "This webinar seeks to clarify for our community the often-complicated statements made by sellers about the environmental impact of the production of jewelry products," explained Cecilia Gardner, chair of the summit. The event, titled "Jewelry and the Environmen...Read More

RAPAPORT... Bonhams will offer a Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring at its New York sale this month, expecting it to fetch up to $480,000.The ring, from the late 19th century, contains a cushion-shaped, 5.22-carat unheated sapphire set within a diamond frame. The piece will lead the May 19 auction, Bonhams said last week."Kashmir sapphires are among the most highly prized gems in the world due to t...Read More

RAPAPORT... Tse Sui Luen (TSL) expects to report a loss for the full fiscal year amid a drop in consumer demand during the first half.The Hong Kong-based jeweler believes it will lose at least HKD 40 million ($5.2 million) for the year ending March 31, it said last week. That compares with a loss of HKD 90 million ($11.6 million) the previous year. Consumer sentiment waned in all TSL's operating m...Read More

China's decision to remove its import tax on all steel billet last week means Fastmarkets will not proceed with any changes to limit data points to Asean-origin prices.Since the launch of the price on February 26 of this year, the market has been liquid, with Fastmarkets reporting a raft of deals for steel billet imported into China.Most of the imports this year have been from Association of South...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Trans Atlantic Gem Sales reported rough sales of $18m in Dubai, despite a Covid ban on Indian nationals entering the UAE.Manufacturers in Surat sent their buying teams in to the country before restrictions came into force on 25 April to ensure they could attend the TAGS tender, as well as forthcoming sales by De Beers and Alrosa.TAGS said it sold all the 45,000 carats on offer, inc...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  A rare 5.22-carat Kashmir sapphire is expected to fetch up to $480,000 at Bonhams' New York Jewels sale later this month.The cushion-shaped mixed-cut gem was discovered high up in the Zanskar region of the Himalayas in the 1880s.It is certified as unheated and is set in a ring with 10 diamonds (approx four carats) in 18k pink and silver-topped gold. It is estimated at $2...Read More

The latest data for the global manganese ore market for the week ended May 3, 2021.Read More

(IDEX Online) - Britain must return two Cullinan diamonds from its crown jewels, says a member of South Africa's parliament.Mbusiyseni Ndlozi, of the left-wing opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) tweeted: "Expropriation of the Queen's crown without compensation: we want our diamonds back!" A tweet claimed the gems had a combined value of $5bn.The Cullinan I (Star of Africa),...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationTo this end, in March, Colombia's National Mining Agency (ANM) launched the first Copper Round, an auction of four greenfield areas with sedimentary copper potential in Cesar and La Guajira, as itRead More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained just shy of an all-time high reached on Friday April 30, falling below the $75-per-hundredweight ($1,500-per-short-ton) threshold on Monday May 3.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $74.82 per cwt ($1,496.40 per ton) on May 3, down by 0.81% from $75.43 per cwt on Friday but up by 2.96% from $72.67...Read More

Prices for domestic and imported merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel products in the United States rose in April amid strengthening demand.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel bar 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant products, fob mill US was $47.80 per hundredweight ($956 per short ton) on Friday April 30, up by 4.37% from $45.80 per cwt on March 26 and by 7.90% from $44.30 per cwt in Februa...Read More

Turkey exported 465,646 tonnes of flat steel products in March 2021, up by 52.34% year on year from the 305,658 tonnes exported in March 2020, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The country's total exports of flat steel products for the first three months of the year came to 1,085,001 tonnes, down by 8.45% from the 1,185,141 tonnes exported in January-March 2020, TUIK said....Read More

Turkey imported 781,869 tonnes of flat steel in March 2021, up by 67.35% from 467,201 tonnes in the corresponding month of 2020, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The country's total flat steel imports in January-March 2021 jumped to 1,997,692 tonnes in the first three months of the year, an increase of 9.69% from the 1,821,147 tonnes imported in the corresponding period of 202...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 22 points in pre-opening trade. Trading volume on U.S. and Canadian exchanges is expected to be lower than average today. Other equity markets are closed for the May Day holiday including China, Japan, Thailand, United Kingdom and Russia.Clorox dropped $1.40 to $181.10 after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock from Overwe...Read More

Brazil's iron ore exports increased by 7.49% in April versus the same month in 2020, according to data from the country's economy ministry published on Monday May 3, with Vale's operations beginning to ramp up production.Brazilian iron ore exports totaled 25.79 million tonnes in April compared with 23.99 million tonnes a year before, the economy ministry said.Vale, the world's largest iron ore pro...Read More