The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Although we correctly forecast a significant rise in hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in the United States in September 2020, our price forecast proved too conservative.An impressive V-shaped recovery in key economic fundamentals critical to steel consumption is driving stronger demand for steel at the start of the fourth quarte...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Prices across most ferro-alloy markets trended stable to lower in August as demand remained subdued in major markets, apart from China where steel output continues to rise at a rapid pace, supporting demand for ferro-alloys. As alloy makers seek to remedy supply/demand imbalan...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Numerous ore and alloy markets enjoyed upward pricing momentum in the first half 2020, with supply-side constraints supporting prices despite collapsing demand from steelmakers and other key end users. While supply side issues related to Covid-19 lockdowns have been resolved,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.We do not consider the average iron ore fines price for September so far above $125 per tonne cfr Qingdao to be sustainable. The bullishness is not likely to last in the long term as we expect Chinese demand growth to slow down. A key factor boosting Chinese steel demand so far has been the stimulus policies from the authori...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Having found it easier to increase prices than their counterparts in Europe and the United States during the past few months, Asian stainless steelmakers now face a number of concerns.In the short term, Asian prices have moved down in recent weeks while those in Europe and the US are on the up. This is mostly a reflection of...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. A look at stainless steel price movements through August reveals the ongoing battle being faced by stainless steelmakers in Europe and the United States while they try to pass on rising costs to consumers. In these regions, prices on most grades of stainless steel are little changed from July, rising by around 2% at most -...Read More
The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we enter the summer season across the northern hemisphere, almost half a year has passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began to seriously affect Europe and the United States.One would not really be able to tell that such a dramatic event had occurred by looking at stainless steel prices, however, because they are more or less...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are relatively stable this month, showing little change since our previous tracker. Such stability masks growing issues for stainless steelmakers, however, who are increasingly unable to pass on rising costs to consumers and are, thus, facing cuts to their margins.In general, this is due to an excess of...Read More
RAPAPORT... Titan Company, India's largest jewelry retailer, gave an optimistic outlook for the upcoming Diwali holiday season after resurgent gold demand boosted revenue during the second fiscal quarter.Consumer sentiment improved in the three months ending September 30 as India's Covid-19 restrictions eased and stores reopened, Titan reported last week. The sales decline was gentler than in...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company's output rose in the third quarter as higher ore grades at its Lulo mine compensated for a temporary shutdown of the Angola site.Production from the deposit increased 23% to 9,387 carats during the three months ending September 30, a record quarterly total for the company, despite a pause in operations resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, it said last week. T...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong's diamond trade continued to decline in the third quarter, though the downturn was gentler than during the first half of the year. Polished imports fell 32% year on year to $2.69 billion in the three months ending September 30, compared with 54% in the first quarter and 45% in the second, according to calculations based on recent data from the Diamond Federation of Hong...Read More
RAPAPORT... Dominion Diamond Mines has asked a Canadian court to prevent Rio Tinto from selling its portion of rough diamonds from the Diavik joint venture, calling the sale unfair and unreasonable.Rio Tinto-owned Diavik Diamond Mines, Inc.'s (DDMI) proposed sales plan would not assure maximum value from the rough, given it sells via long-term contracts, which generally offer buyers discounts, Dom...Read More
RAPAPORT... The proportion of consumers who have heard about lab-grown diamonds has risen to 80% in 2020, up from 58% two years ago, an MVI Marketing survey found.Meanwhile, 69% of shoppers knew of specific brands that use lab-grown diamonds, compared to 49% in 2018. "Lab-grown diamond is a high-margin category that consumers are reacting to positively," MVI CEO Marty Hurwitz said last week. "Now...Read More
RAPAPORT... Jewelers Mutual Group has agreed to acquire Wexler Insurance Agency/IJB, a specialist in risk management for the jewelry industry."Combining Wexler's unique products, services and carrier alliances with the investments in data and technology being made by Jewelers Mutual will create a competitive advantage that will expand our footprint and diversify our operational profile," said...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Indian diamond industry has urged the government to cut taxes and lift red tape ahead of the country's annual Union Budget, arguing that exports could double under the right conditions.The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has called for import duty on polished stones to drop to 2.5% from the current 7.5%, it said Thursday. The council also wants India to pe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Insurers Jewelers Mutual is set to acquire Wexler Insurance Agency, one of the world's largest privately-owned independent insurance agencies for the jewelry trade. The move will bring together two of the most recognized names in the USA's jewelry insurance industry Jewelers Mutual Group announced on Friday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire We...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A British "green" millionaire is poised to produce the world's first "zero-impact diamonds".Dale Vince says his Sky Diamonds company will capture carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere to produce 200 carats of environmentally-friendly CVD (carbon vapor deposition) lab-growns a month, scaling up to 1,000 next year.He'll use wind and solar electricity, and water collec...Read More