Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 6 that are worth another look.Indian suppliers exhausted their third-quarter quota for shipments of hot-rolled coil into Europe on the first day of the new three-month period, according to data released by the European...Read More

Copper prices fell by 2.1% on the London Metal Exchange during trading on Tuesday July 6, on a strengthening of the US dollar and market caution at the start of the new trading month.The three-month copper price fell by almost $200 per tonne on Tuesday to $9,312 per tonne, despite reaching an intra-day high of $9,632.50 per tonne. This was a 2.1% decrease from Monday's 5pm close of $9,511 per tonn...Read More

Iron ore prices largely edged up on Tuesday July 6 following the steel price increase, while market chatter on the crude steel production cut and authorities' focus on curbing the commodity price surge weighed on the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $222.36 per tonne, up $0.54 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $226.02 per tonne,...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices increased in China's domestic market on Tuesday July 6, following gains in futures prices, while market participants continued to digest talks of production cuts.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,580-5,620 yuan ($864-870) per tonne, up by 80 yuan from 5,500-5,540 yuan per tonne. The expectation of production cuts at Chinese steel mills in the second half of the year has be...Read More

The Hunt brothers were taken out of their silver position for controlling around...by Bix Weir of Road to RootaThe Hunt brothers were taken out of their silver position for controlling around 100M oz of Physical silver and 100M oz of COMEX contracts...JP Morgan controls 10X that and yet they are still allowed to the the BIG KAHUNA in the silver market supplying 70% of the COMEX Silver Deliveries f...Read More

Activity in the European hot-rolled coil market has been limited because buyers are refraining from making new deals to assess price trends and mills are holding back from trading on good order books, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 6.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,146.25 ($1,359.80) per tonne on Tuesday July 6, down by...Read More

The Turkish steel producers continued to hold back from the deep-sea scrap import markets on the second working day of the week due to limited demand for finished long steel products, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 6.The mills in the country booked four deep-sea cargoes last week, three of which were booked by a single steel mill.The most recent deal was concluded at $495 per...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa has introduced a provenance program that allows customers to trace diamonds back to their origin using nanotechnology. The Russian miner will place a permanent, noninvasivelaser marking on rough and polished stones, which participants can "read" using a special scanning machine that Alrosa will provide, it said Tuesday. This will enable people along the supply cha...Read More

RAPAPORT... There is a buoyancy about the diamond market that has surprised many at the halfway point of the year. Considering the struggles the industry has endured in the past decade, diamantaires aren't necessarily used to the positive forces shaping the trade in 2021."Coming off a difficult last year, there's no doubt the diamond industry performed better than most [industries]," says Pau...Read More

RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, July 6, 2021, Las Vegas... Robust retail sales are driving positive sentiment in the diamond market. Polished prices continue their upward momentum even as inventory levels gradually rise in some sizes. Steady demand, shortages in certain categories and high rough costs are supporting prices. The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI?,,?) for 1-carat diamonds climbed 2.7% in June...Read More

Global recycling company TES plans to build its first lithium-ion battery recycling plant at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, according to a joint statement made on Monday July 5.The new plant will have capacity for 10,000 tonnes per year, and will be the first of its kind in the European country, TES and the port authority said in the announcement. It should be fully operational by late...Read More

RAPAPORT... UK-based auction house Bonhams has appointed Kate Flitcroft as senior specialist in its London jewelry department.  Flitcroft will begin the new role immediately, working out of the company's New Bond Street office, Bonhams said Monday. She joins from Scottish auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, where she was head of the jewelry and silver department.The qualified auctionee...Read More

The zinc price in Shanghai rose on Tuesday July 6 despite the state's latest attempt to cool down the price of the galvanizing metal by auctioning off inventory.The daily zinc Shanghai Futures Exchange price closed at 22,310 yuan on Tuesday, up 0.6% day on day.There was minimal price reaction after the Chinese government sold its 30,000 tonnes of zinc ingots reserve at the first-ever public tender...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Demand for men's engagement rings has risen 69 per cent year-on-year, says research for a British jeweler.The increase is being driven by the popularity of LGBTQ+ marriages and the growing trend of women proposing.London-based Taylor and Hart said its research revealed the number of women proposing had trebled since 2010. It also said seven out of 10 men would be happy to rece...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is applying an indestructible "nano mark" to the atomic structure its diamonds to guarantee their provenance.   It says the application of a minuscule physical mark is more reliable than existing diamond-tracing technologies such as laser engraving, which can be polished off.   The Russian miner says the application of nano mark to the atomic structure of the diamo...Read More

The United States' Department of Commerce announced on July 2 that they will sanction China's Wanbao Mining and its entities for supporting Myanmar's military regime.The entities are involved in copper mining and satellite services. They are Wanbao Mining Ltd., its two subsidiaries - Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper, Ltd. and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper, Ltd. - and King Royal Technologies Co., Ltd.Read More

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange mostly increased on Tuesday July 6, with a tepid dollar driving the complex up. The United States dollar index was at 92.29 on Tuesday, up 0.8 from an earlier reading on the same day, but lower than its peak of 92.76 during its late-May to early-July rally. The three-month LME lead price led the increase on Tuesday, up 1.2% compared to Monday's c...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, apart from those for lead, were up during morning trading on Tuesday July 6. Those on the London Metal Exchange were mixed, but that was after a generally positive day on Monday.Brent crude oil climbs after Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fail to agree a production increaseBase metalsLME three-month base metals prices were mixed th...Read More

Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States surged after domestic mills raised offers while buyers continued to aggressively vie for the few available spot tons. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $89.53 per hundredweight ($1,790.60 per short ton) on Tuesday July 6, an increase of 2.33% from $87.74 per cwt on Friday July 2 and up 4.13% from $85.98 per...Read More

Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States have stabilized after four consecutive weeks of increases, and market participants expect a flat period followed by more price hikes.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was at $75 per hundredweight ($1,500 per short ton) on Friday July 2, unchanged from the previous week but nearly tripl...Read More