Ferro-alloys prices have generally retreated over the past month, with demand concerns gaining in prominence.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferro-alloy pricing trends have generally diverged ove the past month, depending on the security of the supply-side position of the market. With most supply concerns fading with the resumption of industrial activity i...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:While the ferro-alloy industry's initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak was marked by rising prices primarily in response to supply-side concerns, focus has now shifted somewhat. As Chinese activity slowly returns to more normal levels, for alloys with a strong Chinese prod...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The recent announcement about Vale's resumption of operations in Brazil, along with new concerns about a slump in demand because of heavy rainfall in China, has resulted in the end of the iron ore price rally. There has also been pressure from tight steel spreads, with the operating margins for Chinese steel mills shrinking...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices climbed further last week and we expect the elevated levels to remain into the next month. In particular, further upside will come from blast furnace (BF) capacity, which was reduced in Europe, Japan and the United States and has now come back online after restrictions started to be removed. With Covid-19 spr...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices have shot up as market participants have judged the supply risks from Covid-19 higher at this point in time when there is already a tight seaborne market. Despite the efforts to ramp up, Vale is struggling to catch up with its pre-dam disaster export volumes and its slow recovery has only been hit further by...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron oreSentiment in the iron ore market continues to be dominated by concerns about supply disruptions in Brazil. Prices spiked above $100 per tonne after reports that there had been a recent surge of Covid-19 cases at Vale's three mines in Itabira. A...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices have fared relatively well over the past couple of months in the face of the threat from the Covid-19 pandemic.In grade-304 material, the most common grade of stainless steel, prices were down by about 5-7% since the turn of the year - not bad, when compared with the falls in prices of other assets so f...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Having first hit Asia during early 2020, the Covid-19 viral outbreak is now having an even bigger impact on European countries and the US. Widespread lockdown measures have been put in place on people and industry, and economic activity has slowed markedly.For now, stainless steel markets in Europe and the US are yet to show...Read More
The new issue of the Seamless OCTG & Linepipe Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers analysis of seamless OCTG and linepipe across international markets:Covid-19 underscores pipe outlookUnsurprisingly, the concern in the seamless pipe markets across the regions is the effect of the spread of Covid-19 on public health and econo...Read More
Tin premiums in the United States and Europe were subject to pressure in the two weeks to Wednesday July 1, with a wide backwardation in the metal's forward curve on the London Metal Exchange limiting business while a narrowing arbitrage window to import tin into China supported current levels. Covid-19 resurgence hinders US marketRenewed spot interest fails to stop falling Rotterdam premiumStrong...Read More
RAPAPORT... Indian trade bodies have recommended continued limits on rough-diamond imports in July, with a fresh weeklong shutdown of the Surat cutting sector adding to concerns about the market.The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and four other organizations have called for the industry to avoid shipping rough into the country between July 10 and 31. They are giving comp...Read More
RAPAPORT... Christie's brought in more than $4 million at its latest digital sale, with a 29-carat diamond earning the highest online price ever for a jewel.The emerald-cut, 28.86-carat, D-color, VVS1-clarity, type IIa diamond ring garnered $2.1 million, beating its $2 million high estimate at the Jewels Online sale, Christie's said Tuesday. The piece received offers as soon as the sale start...Read More
Industry associations up and down the steel and metals supply chain applauded the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact going into effect on Wednesday July 1.The update to the North American Free Trade Agreement - which previously governed trade between the three nations - should increase demand while also assuring that essential cross-border supply chains remain intact, the Ame...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandemic or not, Chow Tai Fook has no intention of slowing its expansion into China, with plans to open approximately 450 stores on the mainland during the current fiscal year, managing director Kent Wong told Rapaport News. A vast majority of those new locations will be in tier-4 and tier-5 cities, which have population sizes of around 200,000 to 300,000, and are growing at a fas...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has resumed operations at its International underground mine, a week after a dozen workers tested positive for COVID-19.The mine (pictured), close to the town of Mirny, in the subarctic Russian republic of Sakha, yields some of the world's highest diamond grades, and produced 2.2 million carats in 2019.All staff have now been tested. Those awaiting results have be...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 28.86-carat type IIa D-color diamond has sold for $2.1m, a world record high price for an online-only auction.Christie's say the near-flawless, VVS1-clarity emerald-cut stone (pictured) just exceeded a high estimate of $2m, attracting 31 bids during the two-week sale, which ended yesterday.The diamond's estimate in the Jewels Online sale was $1m to $2m."The sale of this...Read More
(IDEX Online) - India's biggest show for the jewelry trade has been postponed from August to January 2021 because of COVID-19.The India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) Premiere typically attracts 40,000 visitors and over 1,300 exhibitors.Organizers GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council) are hoping lockdowns and travel restrictions will be over by then.The show, which had been...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Polished diamond prices showed very little movement in June, significantly less than May. There was a scattering of modest increases and decreases among sporadic colors and clarities, but not enough to draw firm conclusions about where the market is heading. Rounds showed marginally more activity than fancies and overall movement was up rather than down, but only jus...Read More
Zinc concentrate treatment charges rose from an 18-month low in June 2020, with market shorts facing less of a rush to cover positions on the spot market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China, was $160-180 per tonne on Friday June 26, up from $155-170 per tonne at the end of May.Spot supply of concentrates remained limited to just a few mines, predominantly in Austr...Read More