The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US market under pressureUS prices for welded pipe products were under pressure because market participants, especially distributors, have started to take steps to generate cash and were moving material if they were able to do so, even if it meant selling at low prices.We expect more such "fire sales" in the coming months, bu...Read More

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSThere's no easy way to get through this financial crisis without pain. Whether it's a 1930s style deflationary crash or a Weimar style hyperinflation...John Rubino of Dollar Collapse interviewed by Paul "Half Dollar" EberhartThere is no easy way to get through this massive financial crisis without ext...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the year 2020 to date in late August, the Fastmarkets 62% Fe iron ore benchmark has powered along and reached six-year highs, supported by Chinese demand, and despite the global economic uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Iron ore demand has weakened almost everywhere except in China, where it has continued to...Read More

Aluminium producers have begun their negotiations for the fourth-quarter Japan aluminium benchmark premium, and participants told Fastmarkets they expect premiums to rise, albeit marginally. The benchmark quarterly main Japanese ports (MJP) premium has fallen each quarter this year from $83 per tonne in the first quarter, to $82 per tonne in the second and $75-79 per tonne in the third quarte...Read More

Italian re-rollers have failed to achieve price rises for heavy steel plate due to poor demand from main consuming segments, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe was unchanged over the week at ?,?440-470 ($520-555) per tonne on August 26, compared with ?,?450-470 per tonne a week earlier.Official offers for material hav...Read More

Tin producer Alphamin Resources will benefit from a new ruling by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that will allow it and other miners to export concentrate from the central African country, the International Tin Association (ITA) said on Tuesday August 25.Export restrictions applying not only to tin but to tungsten, tantalum concentrate, and cobalt hydroxide and carbonate, were removed by t...Read More

Sentiment improving as US and Chinese jewelers gain confidence ahead of holiday season. Rough sales rise due to polished shortages and lower prices. Sight goods selling at premiums on the secondary market after De Beers reduced prices 6% to 8% for 1 ct. rough and larger. Concerns that strong rough buying will squeeze liquidity and lead to polished oversupply. Polished demand selective, with wide a...Read More

RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. reported a sharp decline in profit in the second fiscal quarter but noted sales have returned to pre-pandemic levels in August."Our global sales trends have strengthened in August, with preliminary month-to-date worldwide sales through August 25 being slightly positive as compared to the same month-to-date period in the prior year," said CEO Alessandro Bogliolo i...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange largely consolidated during morning trading on Thursday August 27, with thin turnover seeing price action largely unmoved, while continued weakness in the US dollar index failed to spur buying sentiment across metal markets ahead of this afternoon's Federal Reserve speech.Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is set to give a talk later on...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough trading does not incur India's new e-commerce tax, the country's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) confirmed after meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.India introduced the equalization levy on April 1 for all overseas e-commerce operators. The minister explained that the new tax applied only to digital consumer sales and not business-to-business...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) will debut its holiday advertising campaign next month, featuring an as-yet-unnamed Hollywood celebrity as the new face of diamonds. "The campaign celebrates the many emotional connections created by diamond jewelry, something that research shows will resonate strongly as we emerge from the crisis," NDC CEO David Kellie said Wednesday in a letter to in...Read More

A producer has offered fourth-quarter 2020 supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) at a premium of $95 per tonne over the London Metal Exchange cash price, according to market sources.The number is 23.4% higher than the cif MJP premium for the third quarter of 2020, which settled at $75-79 per tonne.Major producers - Rio Tinto, South32, Alcoa and Rusal - are involved in negotiating quarte...Read More

RAPAPORT... India's major trade body has again urged members to avoid taking on unsellable diamond inventory, arguing that the industry's recent improvement has been only partial.While polished demand is increasing and some categories are in short supply, a full recovery faces obstacles, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said in a statement Tuesday."A good part of the i...Read More

When Nick Popovic was formally announced in August as Glencore's new head of zinc and lead trading, the news came as little surprise to watchers of the company.A long-running senior executive in the division, with experience leading the key Kazzinc group of assets, the move to succeed Daniel Mate was seen by many as a natural fit."Nick's been in the company for many years, he's a good safe set of...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The diamond industry must re-invent its supply chain and move on from traditional Sights and tenders in favor of new technology, says Lucara boss Eira Thomas.The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting travel bans have highlighted the need for paradigm shift, she argues in an open letter release yesterday."We can no longer harken back to a past era and unwisely cling to processes that have...Read More

(IDEX Online) - French luxury conglomerate LVMH has delayed its $16.2bn acquisition of US jeweler Tiffany & Co, following speculation that it was seeking a price reduction.The deal should have been concluded on 24 August, but both sides are understood to have agreed a proviso that the absolute deadline could be pushed back to 24 November.LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault (pictured) reported...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Fugitive Indian jeweler Mehul Choksi is urging an Indian court to delay the screening of a Netflix documentary called Bad Boy Billionaires, featuring his nephew Nirav Modi.He's petitioned the high court in Delhi to demand sight of the program before it airs, fearful that it might contain material prejudicial to criminal charges against him.He is a key suspect, along with his n...Read More

RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports fell in July but at a gentler pace than in earlier months as the US, Europe and China returned to more normal business levels. Polished shipments out of the country dropped 39% after heavier slumps in April to June, when demand dried up across major markets. India Trade Data for July 2020Read More

Finished steel imports into the United States soared month on month in July due to a massive influx of blooms, billets and slabs from Brazil, according to data from the US Department of Commerce's Enforcement and Compliance division. The US imported 2,440,509 tonnes of steel products in July, up by 1,173,037 tonnes (92.5%) from 1,267,472 tonnes in June but down by 307,627 tonnes (11.2%) from...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved further up day on day on Thursday August 27, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at ?,?449.89 ($531.71) per tonne on Thursday August 27, up by ?,?2.02 per tonne from ?,?447.87 per tonne on Wednesday August 26. The index was also up by ?,?18.01 per tonn...Read More