(IDEX Online) - The price of super-rare pink diamonds is to set to rocket with the forthcoming closure of the Argyle mine in Western Australia, which has been responsible for 90 per cent of world supplies.Owners Rio Tinto plan to cease production by the end of 2020, when economically-viable reserves will run out.The value of pink diamonds sold at its annual tenders has been appreciating by an aver...Read More
RAPAPORT... As diamond markets start to return, the Rapaport News team discusses prospects for the industry in the latest episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast. We discuss the extent to which things have fundamentally changed in the past two months and what that means for the trade in the coronavirus era. We assess whether the industry will maintain its sense of community in the new virtual...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Over 80 per cent of the world's diamond reserves are held by just three countries - Russia, Congo and Botswana - according to new estimates.There are 1.1 billion carats of unmined diamonds globally, says the London-based finance publication Learnbonds. More than half (52 per cent) are in Russia, 13 per cent in Congo and eight per cent in Botswana.The research says product...Read More
Weak end-user demand pushed European vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) prices lower again last week while supply worries have slowly started to ease with mines in South Africa gradually opening up, market sources said.Fastmarkets assessed the vanadium pentoxide 98% V2O5 min, in-warehouse Rotterdam price at $5.50-6.40 per lb on Friday May 15, down by 13.5% from the previous assessment of $6.50-7.25 per lb....Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange rallied at the close of trading on Monday May 18, with positive risk sentiment emerging from a continued easing of Covid-19 market concerns, while copper, nickel and zinc futures all breached nearby resistance levels.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,317 per tonne on Monday afternoon, climbing by more than 2.6% from an intra...Read More
Copper stocks at Shanghai bonded warehouses continued to decline on Monday May 18, falling closer to Fastmarkets' all-time low of 250,000 tonnes, which was posted in October 2015. Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai bonded copper stocks at 250,000-260,000 tonnes on May 18, down by 13.9% from 291,000-301,000 tonnes on May 4.The opening of an arbitrage window between Shanghai and London boo...Read More
The LME three-month copper price was higher in morning trading on Monday May 18, steadily approaching $5,300 per tonne amid steady turnover, while a 17,500-tonne fresh cancelation in LME zinc bolstered that metal's underlying price.Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange was recently seen at $5,280.50 per tonne, up from Friday's closing price of $5,181.50 per tonne, while turnover was...Read More
Glencore have signed an offtake agreement with Netherlands-based aluminium producer Aldel for up to 180,000 tonnes of aluminium this year and next, Aldel confirmed to Fastmarkets on May 18.Aldel currently produces 80,000 tonnes per year of aluminium products but plans to increase significantly in the next 12 months, the company said. Aldel informed customers that they had concluded the offtake agr...Read More
While backward-looking economic data continues to show how deep the global contraction has been, markets seem focused on the recovery this morning, Monday May 18, as more economies open up and plan to reopen in the weeks ahead. The base metals on the London Metal Exchange are up across the board, all the base metals with the exception of July nickel are up on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and Asia...Read More
Lead-zinc producer Recylex Group filed for insolvency protection for its German subsidiaries and will consequently lose control of its German subgroup, the company said last week.Recylex, Europe's third-largest lead-smelting company through its 105,000-tonnes-per-year Weser-Metall smelter in Nordenham, Germany, cited the fall in zinc price caused by the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic as the...Read More
The departure of the chief executive officer of Tata Steel Netherlands, Theo Henrar, will result in job losses at the company's operations in the country, trade union FNV Metaal said on Monday May 18.Tata Steel Europe announced on Monday that Henrar will step down as chairman of the board of management of Tata Steel Nederlands on May 31 this year.His departure was agreed by mutual consent, a compa...Read More
Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipSeven ways the resources sector can survive the COVID-19 crisisSPONSOREDproudfootCardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources The pricing is at 1.5c per new share.Read More
German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp is seeking a partner to consolidate its loss-making steel business, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday May 18.The company was reported to have started negotiations with a number of companies over the sale of a share in its steel business.Thyssenkrupp neither confirmed nor denied this information."No further comment at this moment," a spokesperson for Thyssenkrupp sai...Read More
While backward-looking economic data continues to show how deep the global contraction has been, markets seem focused on the recovery this morning, Monday May 18, as more economies open up and plan to reopen in the weeks ahead. The base metals on the London Metal Exchange are up across the board, all the base metals with the exception of July nickel are up on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and Asia...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have moved down again due to limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday May 18.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?410.00 ($443.42) per tonne on Monday, down by ?,?1.88 per tonne from ?,?411.88 per tonne on May 15.Monday's index was calculated based on "workable" prices and bi...Read More
The price of steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was stable to slightly lower week on week on Monday May 18 while buying started to recover slowly, sources told Fastmarkets.Trading activity in the steel rebar market in the region has started to improve slowly following the gradual restart of the key rebar consumption sector - the construction industry - last week."Some c...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern and Southern Europe dropped again during the week to Friday May 15 due to limited trading activity.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?411.88 ($445.45) per tonne on Friday May 15, down by ?,?8.95 per tonne week on week and down by ?,?51.45 per tonne month on month.Friday's index was calculated based on...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices surged on Monday May 18 on production cuts in the country's steelmaking hub of Tangshan, which motivated exporters to raise their offers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,520-3,550 yuan ($496-500) per tonne, up 90-100 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,520 yuan per tonne, up 100 yuan per tonneSellers in Shanghai offered cargoes at 3,520 yuan per to...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures advanced 75 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to encouraging comments last night by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about a recovery in the U.S. economy in the second half of 2020.NVIDIA advanced $12.37 to $352.00 after BMO Capital upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform. Target was raise...Read More
Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) expects to ship 32 million tonnes of iron ore in 2020, chief financial officer Marcelo Ribeiro said on Friday May 15.The company aims to increase its output rate through the remainder of the year, after heavy rainfall cut production in the first quarter. CSN changed its 2020 output guidance to include third-party purchases...Read More