Weda Bay Nickel, the Indonesia-based joint venture between French multi-metal miner Eramet, Chinese stainless steel giant Tsingshan and regional miner PT Antam went into the early stages of production on Thursday April 30, Eramet announced on the same day.Weda Bay, located on the country's Halmahera Island, will supply nickel to local ferro-alloys plants for stainless steel production and has an e...Read More

The sharp decline in emerging market currencies combined with a collapse in oil prices are providing a twin saving grace for many metals and mining companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. For producers of energy-intensive metals like aluminium, and in particular the low-cost ones, the benefit is even greater. It's an emerging trend that is starting to be reflected in the earnings of corporates in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Polished diamond prices for April were largely in line with last month, with only small fluctuations and little in the way of dramatic movement.  The majority of both rounds and fancies remained unchanged.  Movement across the board was a mix of modest rises and falls, rarely above three per cent.HIGHLIGHTS Rounds 0.50-0.69 ct. G-I / VVS1&nbs...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) ­– Diamond mining and marketing company De Beers on Wednesday announced a $200 000 donation across its four producer partner countries of Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa to assist women’s shelters and support organisations to respond to an increase in gender-based violence resulting from Covid-19.Mining Weekly can report that the donation...Read More

Aurubis' attempts to get regulatory approval for its takeover of secondary copper-tin smelter Metallo continue, Europe's largest copper smelter said, with the decision delayed in the midst of Covid-19 uncertainty.The Germany-based company has been attempting to gain antitrust regulatory approval for a ?,?380 million ($424 million) takeover of Belgian-Spanish recycler Metallo Chimique since May las...Read More

One day after dropping below $22 per hundredweight ($440 per short ton), hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have rebounded above $23 per cwt ($460 per ton) while domestic mills are reportedly staying firm on their latest price increase efforts.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $23.67 per cwt ($473.40 per ton) on Friday May 1, up by 8.1...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were largely stable day on day on Friday Monday 1, but sentiment in the market remains negative, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?425.63 ($463.83) per tonne on Friday May 1, down by ?,?0.08 per tonne from ?,?425.71 per tonne on April 30.Friday's index was calculated base...Read More

Demand for CIS-origin billet mainly came from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region this week, sources told Fastmarkets Friday May 1.By the end of the week, Fastmarkets had heard of three deals to the region, with the latest being a 50,000-tonne billet cargo sold to a customer in Saudi Arabia at around $360 per tonne cfr (or $335 per tonne fob Black Sea, excluding freight costs...Read More

Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) forecasts that the share of its sales that goes to exports will increase to 72% in May, compared with 54% in March and 52% in February, according to a financial report released by the company on Thursday April 30.In April, the share of export sales from NLMK's Russia Flat Steel Division and Long Steel Division reached 61%. These divisions inclu...Read More

Evraz's steel product output at its CIS-based assets surged by 9.3% year on year to 3.12 million tonnes in January-March 2020.The assets - West Siberian Iron & Steel Works (ZSMK) Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works (NTMK) and Evraz Caspian Steel - specialize in production of semi-finished steel products as well as railway and construction products.Of the total, NTMK produced 1,03 million tonnes...Read More

With competition in the global steel markets remaining fierce, Fastmarkets provides an update on the new, progressing and closed trade cases from around the world in April 2020.The case list below includes only updates. For other continuing cases...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesIt is a much needed boost for Kopore, which had just $89,000 cash at the end of March, and will allow it to concentrate on its holdings in Botswana.Read More

Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesSeven ways the resources sector can survive the COVID-19 crisisSPONSOREDproudfootCEO Kevin Keough told a virtual Metal Investor Forum this week he was extremely bullish about the compan...Read More

Indian authorities have withdrawn the operating license from at least one shipping line after allegations that charges were being wrongfully applied to cargoes stranded at ports across the country, Fastmarkets has learnt.On April 21, India's ministry of shipping (MoS) ordered the cancellation of fees including penalty charges, demurrages and detention charges at all major ports and container freig...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesOsisko CEO Sean Roosen said the change increased Osisko's operating margin on the stream to 100% from 80%, while improving Taseko's cash position."Gibraltar is a long-life asset with a proven operator and, as such, this investment continues to provide Osisko's shareholders with silver price optionality over multiple cycles," he sai...Read More

The price of containerized ferrous scrap imports into India slumped further this week due to the continued lack of trading under the lockdown conditions in the country, as well as a drop in the global scrap markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 1.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $259.38 per tonne on Friday, down from $269.13 per...Read More

The pig iron market in the United States strengthened in the week to Friday May 1, with several buyers restocking material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $295-300 per tonne on Friday, up by $5 from $290-295 per tonne last week.One purchase of Ukraine-origin pig iron was done...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market ended the week with a lower-priced deal coming to light on Friday May 1, in line with market expectations for the direction of prices, sources told Fastmarkets.News of the cargo came to light late on Thursday, with a steel mill in the Iskenderun region buying a European cargo comprising 17,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $236 per tonne cfr, and 7...Read More

The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK has edged up over the past week, climbing by ?5 ($6) per tonne amid increased competition among some major shredders for feed, while a slowdown in export markets has limited stronger advances, sources said on Friday May 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, wa...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 60 points in pre-opening trade. Amazon dropped $125.00 to $2,349.00 after lowering second quarter guidance. Apple plunged $8.80 to $285.00 after declining to offer fiscal third quarter guidance. Visa lost $2.03 to $176.69 after lowering second quarter guidance.Amgen gained $3.78 to $243.00 after reporting higher than...Read More