Physical gold demand has ramped up a lot again since January 2021 as private sector demand from China, India and Asia continues to...by Jason Burack of Wall St For Main StPhysical gold demand has ramped up a lot again since January 2021 as private sector demand from China, India and Asia continues to be strong and increase.However, according to the World Gold Council in recent updates, net buying...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The upward momentum in United States' flat product prices is yet to show any signs of slowing, with US HRC prices hitting new record highs during April. Steel supply is forecast to remain short of demand due to no improvement in underlying supply and demand fundamentals, which is propelling US flat product prices higher...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Market conditions are clearly extraordinary when we find ourselves adjusting the axis on our pricing charts to display the new record-high prices each month.After reporting record price highs in Europe and the United States with regards to coated steel products, we find ourselves repeating the same line this month. In Europe,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR? There is no end in sight to the shortfall in flat steel supply that has characterized US markets in early 2021, and we expect record-high US pricing for hot-rolled coil to persist through the second quarter of 2021 and into the second half of the year. We are fo...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.In both Europe and the United States, the prices of most flat steel products have pushed to record highs in the weeks to Monday March 22. They remain slightly below their mid-2008 peaks in China, but are at multi-year highs there too.This illustrates in part the heavier consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for steelmakers in...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR? Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...Read More
Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR?In a strong start to the year, January saw ore and alloy pricing gains across all markets priced by Fastmarkets - with the exception of Chinese silicon metal export prices, which retreated slightly last month after posting impressive gains in December 2020.The combination...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.We spoke in our previous tracker of stainless steel prices ending 2020 on a high. That trend has continued during early 2021 and, in fact, the upward rally in prices has increased its momentum.Compared with the monthly price increase of some 5% seen at the end of 2020, prices for grade-304 stainless steel in al...Read More
Diamond market activity slower due to spike in Covid-19 cases in India. Many small-scale Surat factories shut because of health concerns and lack of workers. Drop in polished production supporting prices. 1 ct. RAPI +2.5% in April. Cutters focused on larger, better-quality goods. Dealers struggling to replace inventory. Solid rough buying at De Beers sight as sightholders expect shortages; fewer g...Read More
RAPAPORT... Health concerns aside, the diamond trade is in better shape than it was a year ago. In fact, the market dynamic is arguably healthier than it has been at any point in the past decade. That's increasingly evident as polished prices continue to firm.The positive trend may come as a surprise considering the challenges Covid-19 has presented over the past year. But it is perhaps even more...Read More
RAPAPORT... Prices of fancy-color diamonds increased in the first quarter as the American market showed renewed demand for high-end products, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF).The group's Fancy Color Diamond Index gained 0.3% compared with the previous three months, the organization reported Thursday. Prices of blue fancy-color diamonds jumped 0.5%, while pinks increased...Read More
RAPAPORT... The third installment of Swiss gem and jewelry show GemGen??ve is set to take place in November after a forced cancellation last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.The show, which will run from November 4 to 7 at Geneva's Palexpo, will include lectures, round tables, seminars and exhibitions, GemGen??ve said Thursday. It is open to jewelry designers, exhibitors, dealers, retailers an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Letseng mine in Lesotho, has yielded a 254 carat Type II white diamond.The deposit, owned by London-based Gem Diamonds, is the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world, and last year achieved an average value of $1,908 per carat.Its highest per carat value for a white rough diamond during the year was $38,827.The new stone (pictured) is the first major find...Read More
RAPAPORT... A marquise-cut diamond from the family of the original "Gibson Girl" will go under the hammer at Skinner Auctioneers later this month.The unmounted, 12.20-carat, G-color, SI1-clarity diamond came from the descendants of Irene Langhorne Gibson, who is thought to have modeled for husband and illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. The famed American artist created the Gibson Girl image, a...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora has increased its forecast for the full year amid strong US and online demand at the start of 2021.The Danish jeweler now expects revenue for the year to increase more than 12% compared to 2020, adjusted from its initial prediction of more than 8%, it said Tuesday. The upgrade is "driven by the US stimulus packages, as well as stronger underlying performance," the com...Read More
The price of stainless steel flat products in Europe surged this week with some sources attributing this to China's cancellation of an export tax rebate, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?3,000-3,050 ($3,611-3,672) per tonne, up by ?,?200 per tonne week on...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The price index for all sizes and intensities of fancy color diamonds rose slightly, by 0.3 per cent, in Q1 of this year, after two quarters of decline. Blues were up 0.5 per cent across the board, and pinks rose 0.4 per cent, according to the New York-based Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF). Yellows fell 0.2 per cent. No figures were produced for for Q1 and Q2 of 20...Read More