RAPAPORT... Independent US jewelers have weathered the Covid-19 crisis well, but face a serious challenge if the pandemic persists, according to Jewelers of America (JA) CEO David Bonaparte."Mainstream mom-and-pop retail jewelers, especially the ones that are in a standalone location, aren't doing that badly," Bonaparte said Monday in an interview with Rapaport News. "And they're starting to...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa says it will offer buyers "unprecedented" flexibility by halving their accumulated obligations to buy its diamonds.The company has been allowing increased deferrals since April and says that as a result volumes allocated for the second half of 2020 are nearly a third up on historical levels."Having considered the situation, Alrosa decided to reduce by 50 percent on average (...Read More

Companies with strong balance sheets and access to capital could drive a gradual pick-up in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the metals and mining sector in the months ahead, following a significant reduction in deal numbers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to consultancy firm PwC.But uncertainties created by the continuing pandemic and a possible recession continued to weigh heav...Read More

Southern Peru Copper Corp (SPCC) was the Peruvian miner least affected by the Covid-19 pandemic among public companies on the Santiago Stock Exchange, several notifications filed to the country's securities authority, SMV, showed. The SMV polled all listed companies during July and only SPCC said that it did not partially or completely halt operations due to the national emergency declared by the...Read More

Glencore's head of zinc and lead assets Chris Eskdale has stepped down from his role while the company overhauls the department's senior leadership, Fastmarkets understands.Eskdale's role will now be split between incoming head of trading Nick Popovic, Denis Hamel and Aline Cote who will become the first woman to lead an industrial division at Glencore.Glencore produced 975,000 tonnes of zinc...Read More

Freeport-McMoRan has beaten its second-quarter copper sales target by 10% but will retain its revised annual forecast due to the continued adverse impact of Covid-19 on its operations, it said on Thursday July 23. The company reported second-quarter 2020 copper sales of 759 million lb or 344,277 tonnes, up 10% from the April 2020 estimate, primarily reflecting better-than-anticipated production ra...Read More

US hot-rolled coil prices have slipped below $22 per hundredweight for the first time since late April, with some mills attempting to raise prices as others continue to cut deals in an effort to close out August order books, market participants said.Fastmarkets daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $21.95 per hundredweight ($439 per ton) on Thursday July 23, down 3.2% fr...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe Section 404 permit, governed by the Clean Water Act, is to be issued shortly by the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). Development of the road will unlock the economic potential of the region by improving access.Trilogy is a partner in Ambler Metals together with South32, which will develop the Arctic copper deposit.Artemis all...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesSpeaking on a conference call this week to explain the copper leader's surprise June-quarter profit, Adkerson said Freeport had gone into the pandemic leaner and argbuably more nimble, butRead More

While prices for certain flat steel imports into the United States have dropped again, moving in tandem with lower domestic pricing, other products have remained resilient on pricing because of improved steel demand in other parts of the world.Fastmarkets received only a limited inputs for foreign flat-rolled products over the past two weeks, because sources said that the weak steel market in the...Read More

RAPAPORT... Australian jeweler Michael Hill reported a sharp drop in revenue during the fourth quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shut down most of its stores.Group sales slumped 61% to AUD 133.1 million ($93.1 million) during the three months that ended June 30, with drops across all markets, the company said last week. Same store sales - at branches open more than a year - fe...Read More

The price for steel reinforcing bar in the United States held firm week on week on steady demand from the construction end market, market participants said.US marketFastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US held at $28 per hundredweight ($560 per short ton) on Wednesday July 22, unchanged after falling to this level on July 15."It seems to have stalled...Read More

Steel billet Import prices increased in Egypt in the week to Thursday July 23 because of higher offers and despite weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.CIS-origin billet was offered this week at $405-410 per tonne cfr, and buyers said that $380 per tonne cfr was likely to be a workable price for the material. However, CIS sellers did not accept the low-priced bids. ...Read More

Heightened diplomatic tensions between the United States and China, and their potential implications on the phase one trade deal struck between the two nations, were a headwind for the base metals this morning, Thursday July 23. Meanwhile, more liquidity keeps underlying sentiment bullish, as do supply concerns.* Base metals have run into resistance; not so the precious metals, especially gold aft...Read More

Steelmakers in Bangladesh are faced with increasingly high offer prices for imported scrap despite dismal domestic steel demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 23. Higher sales prices to Turkey and Taiwan have left US scrap exporters targeting higher bulk prices into Bangladesh. Offer prices for US West Coast-origin cargoes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose to $290-295 per tonne cfr on Thu...Read More

MasterCard (MS), an S&P 100 stock moved above $315.64 extending an intermediate uptrend.Cintas (CTAS), a NASDAQ 100 stock moved above $292.11 and $304.81 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend. Pre-opening Comments for Thursday July 23rdU.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 8 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices went down slightly on Thursday July 23 with no transactions heard today, although sources indicated that Indian steel mills had been purchasing seaborne material recently.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $109.02 per tonne, down $0.91 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $118.69 per tonne, down $0.54 per tonneHard coking co...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' teamof analysts are ready to view.Chinese crude steel production outperformed our expectations with its recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Crude steel output was up by 2.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to 503 million tonnes, and we have revised upward what was initially a more bearish forecast for this year. We now estimate that product...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices were largely rangebound on Thursday July 23 with political tensions rising between the United States and China, according to trade sources.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $110.12 per tonne, down by $0.83 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $112.80 per tonne, down by $0.04 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $99.57 per...Read More

China has become the savior of the global steel market, with its big appetite and high domestic prices supporting the international ferrous supply chain amid the Covid-19 pandemic.While demand for steel in most economies has plummeted in the face of the health crisis, that in China has been strengthening since at least the second quarter of 2020 amid the country's steady recovery after battling th...Read More