The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Average LME aluminium price down by 2.5% week on weekAlthough LME aluminium began this week on the rebound, prices extended their recent downtrend further last week, approaching the $1,400-per-tonne level. The weekly average LME aluminium cash price was down 2.5% last week to $1,432.50 per tonne from previous week's $1,469.6...Read More

Global markets are contracting in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the prices for flat steel products continue to retreat, with prices for coated steels down by a further 5% since late March in most of the markets that Fastmarkets tracks.The latest edition of Fastmarkets' Galvanized Steel and Tinplate Market Tracker, for April 2020, is now available to view.Further price falls are almost cer...Read More

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.The first quarter continued the trend of 2019 - for China to actively import relatively cheap metallics and semi-finished steel - but can this be sustained? The answer to this question will come down to the price competitiveness of the products, we believe. One additional incentive to continue to import metallics this year -...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The recent decline in Chinese scrap prices - to their lowest in a couple of years - even as demand rises, suggests that Chinese scrap supply is increasingly sufficient. In terms of scrap demand, the question is more about price attractiveness. Mini-mills were reducing demand in February, largely because steel margins on scra...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.While downward pressure mounts on the steelmaking raw material markets, premiums for higher-grade iron ores have been sustained despite narrowing operating margins at Chinese steelmakers. Chinese mills are operating with shrinking margins since the end of last year but the premium for high-grade ores remains high. Historical...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

RAPAPORT... The Diamond Producers Association (DPA) has revealed plans for a radical overhaul that will see it change its name, drop the "Real Is Rare" tagline and introduce a new advertising campaign for the holidays.Starting June 1, the marketing group will unveil a fresh identity and launch new consumer and trade websites and social-media campaigns, David Kellie, the DPA's new CEO, said Tu...Read More

RAPAPORT... Baselworld's organizers are planning to change the event's name, restructure its format and choose a new location following its falling-out with exhibitors and the cancellation of its January 2021 show."The date of January 2021 has been abandoned and the name of Baselworld is going to be dropped," a spokesperson for parent company MCH Group told Rapaport News Monday. "A new format...Read More

Production at Bosnian steelmaker ArcelorMittal Zenica has been interrupted by a strike, with unions protesting against temporary layoffs, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 19.The strikes were called on May 19 and affected all operations at the Zenica site except for the coking plant, sources said. The unions did not disclose how long the strikes will last....Read More

RAPAPORT... US polished-diamond imports fell in March to their lowest level since December 2002 as the coronavirus hit global trading. The month saw the 12th consecutive year-on-year decline, according to Rapaport archives based on data from the US Commerce Department. US Trade Data for March 2020Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has reopened laboratories in five locations following COVID-19 shutdowns.The organization's labs in Johannesburg and Tokyo recommenced limited operations on May 7, the GIA said Monday. Visitors to the Johannesburg lab must make an appointment, have a permit, and wear a mask. The Tokyo location will accept and return goods by delivery only...Read More

Aluminium was the only LME three-month base metals contract to close negatively on Tuesday May 19, with gains in aluminium futures capped by a 26,500-tonne fresh inflow as of 9am. The significant inflows arrived at into LME-approved sheds at Port Klang, Malaysia and Toledo in the United States, with 21,500 tonnes put into warehouses at Port Klang and 5,000 tonnes arriving in To...Read More

RAPAPORT... Jewelry was the top gift US moms received this Mother's Day, with most consumers purchasing online due to store closures, according to a survey by MVI Marketing.Some 57% of husbands who bought their wives a Mother's Day gift purchased jewelry, while 13% gave their partners a watch. Meanwhile, 31% of daughters and 47% of sons bought their mothers jewelry for the holiday. Other popu...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Indian government officials are under increasing pressure to allow up to 30 per cent of diamond workers in Surat to return to work. The cut-and-polish hub has been dormant since the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed on 25 March. Authorities 200 miles away in Mumbai last week said jewelry businesses there could allow up to 10 per cent of their workforce to return, as long as they were f...Read More

TEL AVIV – Israel's economy is slowly returning to normal with the gradual easing of its lockdown, but the once vibrant diamond exchange floor in Tel Aviv remains shut and the diamond district, one of the world's main trade and polishing centres, is still deserted.Before the new coronavirus reached Israel, the trading floor was often a hive of activity where hundreds of people from a...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Former De Beers boss Nicky Oppenheimer and his family saw their $6.85bn fortune dip slightly, as they slipped down the annual Rich List, published by the Sunday Times newspaper in London.They remain the wealthiest representatives of the diamond and jewelry sector in the ranking of the 1,000 richest individuals and families who either live in Britain or have significant links t...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The GIA has reopened its labs in Antwerp, Carlsbad, Gaborone, Johannesburg and Tokyo as lockdown restrictions are eased. Opening hours are limited and restrictions on face-to-face contact mean some centers will only accept diamonds by transport or by prior appointment. The Gemological Institute of America labs in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Ramat Gan remain open. London, Mumbai, New Del...Read More

Alumina prices on an fob Australia basis continued to climb over the past week with buyers from China happy to pay above market levels to import cargoes, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday May 19."The stronger aluminium prices and demand in China are propping up the international price of alumina," a trader said. "Plants are restarting and life is getting back to normal there, after the [Covid-19 pandem...Read More

Newmont is continuing to ramp up operations at its Pe??asquito lead-zinc-silver mine in Zacatecas, Mexico and expects first production in early June. The mine, which was placed on care and maintenance in early April alongside other non-essential businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, began ramping up in phases after the Mexican government designated it an essential activity. "Over the next...Read More