Premiums for aluminium billet set or remained at all-time highs across the globe on Friday May 7, with tight supply and strong demand persisting.United StatesFastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, delivered Midwest US at 20-22 cents per lb on Friday, steady since it rose to a fresh all-time high on April 23.Strong demand across extrusion end-use sectors and tight supply...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

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe bill to establish royalty and taxation based on sales revenue - rather than profits - passed Chile's lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, on Thursday.Read More

Cesco, the Chilean Center for Copper and Mining Studies, is calling for a technical and political committee to be formed in order to discuss the recent law proposal to increase mining royalties in the country.An optimal balance between state interests and return on private investments must be reached to develop Chile's mining industry further, Cesco said in a statement on Friday May 7. It added th...Read More

Towards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guidance Aligns with Global StandardSPONSOREDthe mining association of canadaPAM puts itself in the middle of Thailand 4.0SPONSOREDAuroch powers up nickel explorationSPONSOREDauroch mineralsSaturn still shooting for the stars at Apollo HillSPONSOREDsaturn metalsJadar is anticipated to be a multi-decade underground mine that would be one of the largest greenfield...Read More

Towards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guidance Aligns with Global StandardSPONSOREDthe mining association of canadaPAM puts itself in the middle of Thailand 4.0SPONSOREDAuroch powers up nickel explorationSPONSOREDauroch mineralsSaturn still shooting for the stars at Apollo HillSPONSOREDsaturn metalsThe AGM was the first held in Perth since the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves a year ago.Read More

Metal merchants for years ploughed credit into Liberty Commodities, the trading unit of GFG Alliance, even while banks quietly shunned the company.In separate instances related to nickel and copper deals dating to 2016, blue-chip banks including ICBC Standard Bank, Sberbank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) have abruptly halted financing of commodity trades made by Liberty after finding irr...Read More

Copper's futures price set a new all-time high in afternoon trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday May 7, with the bullishness also extending to zinc, which rose above $3,000 per tonne for the first time since June 2018, and aluminium.Three-month copper reached a record high price of $10,435 per tonne on Friday, with volumes traded at over 22,300 lots by 5pm - the most since mid-April.The...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationCopper production from the Gibraltar mine in British Columbia in Q1 amounted to 22.2 million pounds, down 31% year-on-year, as head grades fell to 0.Read More

An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More

Spot trading of copper concentrate slowed in the week ending Friday May 7 with Chinese and Japanese market participants away for holidays. Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index rebounded, with deals to smelters reported at low-to-mid $30s. Spot buying interest was not particularly high because several major Chinese smelters are carrying out maintenance in May...Read More

Towards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guidance Aligns with Global StandardSPONSOREDthe mining association of canadaPAM puts itself in the middle of Thailand 4.0SPONSOREDAuroch powers up nickel explorationSPONSOREDauroch mineralsSaturn still shooting for the stars at Apollo HillSPONSOREDsaturn metalsTotal portfolio contributions amounted to £6.8 million, with a 10.5% drop in income from the Kes...Read More

Brazilian slab export prices rose during the week ended Friday May 7 as sellers seized the opportunity to raise prices given low supply and strong demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil was $900-940 per tonne on Friday, up by $20 per tonne on the high end from $900-920 per tonne the previous week. Early in the week, offers were reported between the...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were a bit more mixed this morning, Thursday May 6, while the return of trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange after the Labor Day holidays saw good gains in all metals apart from zinc.* Markets generally buoyant - perhaps not so surprising when the two largest economies, China and the United States could grow 6% or more this year...* ...but you ha...Read More

South American flat steel import prices rose during the week to Friday May 7 as Chinese mills were only beginning to return from the country's 5-day Labor holiday, and material from elsewhere was sold at higher levels.Only a few firm offers were provided to clients in South America, according to market participants. Most were price indications for residual June shipments and initial assessments fo...Read More

Coated coil prices in Turkey increased during the week to Friday May 7 on strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Most coated coil producers were fully booked until late August, with some accepting orders for September production.Demand was strong in domestic and export markets because of limited stock levels.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil...Read More

Base metals are experiencing strong gains again on the morning of Wednesday May 5 with relatively high volumes being traded on the London Metal Exchange despite the absence of Chinese market participants observing a Labor Day break.* Asian markets quiet with China, Japan and South Korea on holiday* US Dollar Index recently at 91.24, compared with 91.16 at a similar time on Tuesday - consolidating...Read More

Indian mills have increased domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil by 4,500-7,000 rupees ($61-95) per tonne for sales this month, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Mills have also curtailed the supply of HRC to the domestic sector in order to ensure that the price increase will be absorbed by the market."Mills are supplying very little [HRC] material to the...Read More

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plans to set definitive safeguard duties for a number of steel products for a period of three years, it is said in a document issued by the Bureau of Technical Secretariat for Anti Injurious Practices in International Trade (GCC-TSAIP) seen by Fastmarkets on Friday May 7. In February this year, GCC-TSAIP said that it found recent and sudden increases in imports o...Read More

Flat steel prices increased further in Turkey during the week to Friday May 7, with mills almost fully booked until the end of September, sources told Fastmarkets.Some mills have received requests for October production, but are unable to announce prices because they are yet to book their raw materials for October, Fastmarkets heard.The latest scrap bookings by Turkey were made for June shipping a...Read More