Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 27 that are worth another look.The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a shortage of ferrous scrap in many key supply locations, provoking a 21% rise in international scrap prices in just 12 days from April 3 to April 15. But despite this, domestic prices in many areas were settled lower in April's monthly negotiations.The Itali...Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a shortage of ferrous scrap in many key supply locations, provoking a 21% rise in international scrap prices in just 12 days from April 3 to April 15. But despite this, domestic prices in many areas were settled lower in April's monthly negotiations.Prices on the international market have been on a rollercoaster ride over recent weeks.The price of steel scrap,...Read More

Cobalt sulfate prices have managed to take a pause from the persistent downturn since mid-February despite lingering weak demand from electric vehicles (EVs), the major downstream consumer, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets' cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China price was assessed at 43,000-45,000 yuan ($6,074-6,357) per tonne on Friday 24, unchanged for the fifth pricing session in a ro...Read More

The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout metal at the close of trading on Monday April 27, settling at its highest price since April 14 amid robust daily trading volumes.Steady buying in LME zinc futures led the galvanizing metal's underlying price to close at its highest level for a week. Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $15,460 per tonne on Monday aft...Read More

Seaborne hard coking coal prices plummeted on Monday April 27, as transaction prices reflected a weak market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $115.53 per tonne, down $3.89 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $121.06 per tonne, down $5.53 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.01 per tonne, down $6 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $109.44 per tonne, dow...Read More

Most seaborne iron ore prices showed marginal falls on Monday April 27, with cargoes available on the market but only high-quality Brazil fines seeing a rise in prices.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.48 per tonne, down by $0.87 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.50 per tonne, down by $0.59 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $72.47 p...Read More

How can anyone have a profit or loss in silver if there is no price to post?submitted by J. Johnson via JS MinesetGreat and Wonderful Monday Folks, Gold is recovering from a British hangover but only after a high of $1,745.80 was reached with the London low at $1,728.80 with the "now" price at $1,734.40, down $1.20. Silver is still trading in the positive, even after hitting the side of...Read More

Market illiquidity in Brazil and a recent downtrend in Rotterdam premium levels led traders to consider heavily discounted import offers of aluminium ingots in the past week, according to sources.The Rotterdam aluminium premium has been falling since mid-March, when the Covid-19 case toll started growing fast. The premium has since stabilized at a year-to-date low but has yet to recover.Fastmarket...Read More

The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout metal at the close of trading on Monday April 27, settling at its highest price since April 14 amid robust daily trading volumes.Steady buying in LME zinc futures led the galvanizing metal's underlying price to close at its highest level for a week. Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $15,460 per tonne on Monday aft...Read More

Highly automated operations and remotely located sites allowed Southern Copper Corp (SCC) to maintain mine production at around a 90% utilization rate in Peru despite government restrictions to reduce Covid-19 spread, the company said on Friday April 24."In many cases, workers fulfill their duties maintaining distances of more than 100 meters from their coworkers," SCC added. "It should be noted t...Read More

More provincial governments in China are offering incentives to companies to purchase base metal products, in a highly unusual move to avoid inventory piling up at a time of demand uncertainty, Fastmarkets understands from official documents and industry sources.The last time the Chinese government bought metal stocks to relieve inventory pressure was more than a decade ago following the financial...Read More

British carmaker Jaguar-Land Rover will gradually resume production at several production sites in the UK and Europe from May 18, the company announced late last week.The partial resumption of operations will begin with plants at Solihull in the UK, Nitra in Slovakia, and in Austria.Operations have been suspended across Europe since March 20 amid growing pressure to try to contain the spread of th...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved down over the week ended Friday April 24 due to limited demand and the bearish mood among buyers.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?443.13 ($479.42) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?10.20 per tonne week on week and down by ?,?29.37 per tonne since the beginning of April.Official offers we...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of rough from Lucapa Diamond Company's Lulo mine fell in the first quarter as the average price dropped amid a weak market.Revenue slid 36% year on year to $7.8 million, the company said Monday. Although sales volume surged to 2,818 carats compared with 451 carats the previous year, the average price plummeted 90% to $2,758 per carat. That was partly due to an unfavorable co...Read More

RAPAPORT... US imports of polished diamonds slid 26% to $2.43 billion in the first two months of 2020, even before the coronavirus had started to have a major impact on the economy. February imports fell 12% to $1.28 billion. The country has seen a continued slowdown in trading: Every month since August 2019 has recorded polished imports of below $1.5 billion (see graph below).US Trade Data f...Read More

Turkish steelmakers have cut their capacity utilization rates to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among employees amid reduced demand for steel due to pandemic lockdown measures in the domestic and export markets.Several Turkish long steelmakers stopped production in March and April, and some of them have not yet resumed production.Maintenance breaks have reduced flat steel output in Turkey recently...Read More

RAPAPORT... The diamond industry will need to tweak its messaging to emphasize the values its product and brands represent, De Beers executives stressed in the Rapaport Diamond Podcast. Rapaport Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz spoke with Stephen Lussier, executive vice president, consumer and brands, at De Beers, and David Prager, the company's executive vice president of corporate affairs, about the i...Read More

Exporters of flat steel from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) kept their offers high during the week ended Monday April 27, despite the workable prices for buyers remaining much lower.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $355-370 per tonne on Monday, up from $345-365 per tonne a week before.Offers of Russia-origin HRC in Turkey...Read More

Trading activity in the export wire rod and rebar market in the Commonwealth of Independent States remained sluggish in the week to Monday April 27 due to the effects of lower oil prices and the global Covid-19 pandemic.Wire rod offers were largely unchanged over the week, varying within the range of $390-420 per tonne fob Black Sea depending on the supplier and destination.Ukraine-origin material...Read More

Successful trading in recent weeks spurred some CIS steel slab producers to increase their offer prices for foreign customers in late April.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $325-340 per tonne on Monday April 27, widening upward by $10 per tonne.Ukraine-origin slab was available in Italy and Turkey within the range of $360-365 per tonne cfr, which...Read More