Gold and silver will remain firm on developments in USA. Copper is on the verge of a big technical breakout. Crude oil is bullish. OPEC has decided to continue with production cuts. If India had faced a similar mass arson then global leaders would have condemned India with "secularism is at risk" slogan. The arsonists would have been divided between religion, caste and creed. USA's NATO allies a...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 2 that are worth another look.The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) has initiated an inquiry as to whether imports of heavy steel plate from four nations and the island of Taiwan cause injury to domestic producers.Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has signed a provisional power supply agreement with Zambian state-owned uti...Read More

Seaborne and portside manganese ore prices for low- and high-grade material in China declined in May, despite previous expectations that prices would rise, driven by tightening supplies from South Africa and falling port inventories. Strict Covid-19 restrictions in South Africa were expected to have a significant impact on deliveries, resulting in fewer deliveries to Chinese ports and putting upwa...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price was the standout performer at the close on Tuesday June 2 on continued optimism over easing pandemic concerns, while continued unrest in the United States did little to cap upward price action across the complex.LME lead's outright price closed at $1,719.50 per tonne on Tuesday afternoon in a 2.5% rally that pushed the price to its highest settlemen...Read More

Chinese buyers say they are no longer looking to import aluminium, with the fading arbitrage potential ending what was an unusual and profitable trade. The arbitrage for bringing aluminium into China reopened for the first time since 2016 on May 6, with a marginal profit of $4.22 per tonne, according to Fastmarkets' calculations. It widened to $61.82 per tonne on May 20 before slipping to a loss f...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal cfr China price rose on Tuesday June 2 after a transaction was signed at $120 per tonne, while prices for other segments remained relatively flat. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $108.97 per tonne, down $0.05 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $116.88 per tonne, up $0.95 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $89.57 per tonne,...Read More

In the charts matter right now, silver just filled its gap...IN ONE SINGLE DAY!(by Half Dollar) Here's a little somethin' for all of the chart huggers out there.Silver gapped-up at Sunday evening's open:I was looking for more of a gap-up.Here's why.That said, whenever an underlying gaps-up, or gaps-down, what is common is what is called "filling the gap".In other words, to continue on with the tre...Read More

It seems things have been falling into place. It would be surprising if things further falling into place don't include sharply higher silver prices...by Ted Butler of Butler Research via Silver SeekOne wants to be careful about seeing things as previously predicted, but not so careful so as to not recognize when things seem to be playing out exactly as expected. Recent news stories and events see...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferrous scrap consumption rates of Chinese integrated mills appear to have declined this year on a per-tonne basis. This year has seen the ratio of pig iron to steel output tighten, leaving increasingly less room for scrap consumption. Over the first four months of 2020, the pig iron-to-steel ratio has been above the pr...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.The most important driver of the zinc market in 2020 will be the performance of the world’s zinc smelting industry, according to Wood Mackenzie.The easing of trade tensions between the US and China, the struggling manufacturing...Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Read More

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has signed a provisional power supply agreement with Zambian state-owned utility Zesco Ltd after a long-term supply contract between the copper producer and the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) expired.Zesco is now transmitting power via CEC infrastructure to KCM operations while the two parties finalize their agreement.A 20-year contract between CEC and KCM, which op...Read More

The Northern European hot-rolled coil market was largely stable on Tuesday June 2, with prices remaining under pressure from slow demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at ?,?403.00 ($448.44) per tonne on Tuesday June 2, up by ?,?0.50 per tonne from ?,?402.50 per tonne on Monday.Tuesday's index was calculated ba...Read More

RAPAPORT... Titan Company anticipates a negative impact on its profit in the first half of the year amid "very marginal" sales due to the coronavirus-related lockdown in India.Government measures forced the jeweler to shut all its stores and manufacturing facilities from March 17 until the first week of May, when the restrictions were gradually eased. The shutdown hit operations "substantiall...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers will hold viewings of sight goods in locations other than Botswana, enabling customers to access the company's rough amid travel restrictions.The miner will introduce the provision in "relevant diamond centers" for the upcoming sight scheduled for June 15 to 19, a De Beers spokesperson told Rapaport News Monday. He would not say which cities would host the viewings.Botswa...Read More

RAPAPORT... The annual Rapaport Breakfast this Thursday will explore what's next for the diamond industry as it navigates the economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. "This will be one of the most important presentations I have ever made," said Martin Rapaport, chairman of the Rapaport Group, who will make his "State of the Diamond Industry" presentation online on June 4 at 12 p....Read More

RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, June 2, 2020, Las Vegas... Diamond trading is starting to regain traction in Hong Kong with some demand from China. Hong Kong is mostly open for business, but concerns are mounting about renewed protests following new Chinese security laws. New York's 47th Street remains closed as other parts of the US slowly begin to open. US riots over police brutality are also creating c...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Bulk sampling at Marsfontein, South Africa, has yielded encouraging results, according to the exploration company Botswana Diamonds. It has recovered a total of 111 macro diamonds, mostly from high-interest kimberlite, but also from dumped kimberlitic material left from previous mining activity. The company, which expanded from Botswana into South Africa and Zimbabwe, says the resu...Read More