(IDEX Online) - First Lady Melania Trump traded up the 15-carat Graff diamond engagement ring Donald gave her, for an even bigger and more expensive rock. The president-to-be gave her a premium D-color, FL, emerald-cut diamond ring, before they wed in 2005. But the former Solvenian model, aged 50, later had the stone replaced with a 25-carat diamond, according to British newspaper The Daily Expres...Read More

Many of Surat's diamond factories will not survive COVID-19, industry sources have warned, as India's went into "Lockdown 4.0". As many as 90 per cent of the city's 5,000 units are small, unregistered and vulnerable. They're also less able to implement any kind of social distancing rules, likely to be implemented when lockdown eases.The nature of cutting and polishing typically...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price closed trading on Wednesday May 20 higher, on optimism of a possible slowing in the coronavirus-related economic downturn and while buying in the LME drove the price up and reduced arbitrage profits.LME copper's outright price closed at $5,442.50 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, climbing over 1.6% from an intraday low of $5,328 per tonne, while t...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Early signs of post-lockdown demand recoveryWith major economies outside China reopening after the easing of their Covid-19-related restrictions on movement and industrial activity, last week's jump in the number of cancelled aluminium warrants on the London Metal Exchange may be an early sign that the post-lockdo...Read More

Asian spot aluminium premiums divert, with the MJP market edging up on higher deals amid China's open arbitrage window while the Southeast Asian market went down on lower offers from buyers, yet elsewhere, premiums were stable in a quiet market.Asian aluminium market active with MJP premium up but SEA down.European premiums steady amid low liquidity.United States premium holds despite vehicle prod...Read More

Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Monday May 25. After that, because of the UK's Spring Bank holiday, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Wednesday May 27.Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have remained slightly below $25 per hundredweight ($500 per short ton) while sources reported few transactions.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $24.72 per cwt ($494.40 per ton) on Wednesday May 20, down slightly from $24.81 per cwt on Tuesday May 19 but up by 1.4% from $24.39 per cwt a week earlier...Read More

While demand for coated steel products in the United States has been stable over the past month, prices dropped again, reflecting a lag against the previous downward trend that hit other flat-rolled steel products.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel coil Galvalume, fob mill US dipped to $32.75 per hundredweight ($655 per short ton) on Tuesday May 19, down by 5.8% from $34.75 per cwt in...Read More

Turkey has imposed additional duties on imports of several steel products with effect from Wednesday May 20, according to the Turkish Official Gazette.Imports of hot-rolled flat steel under HS codes 7208 9080 1012 and 7208 9080 2012 will be subject to 14% additional import duty until September 30, 2020.A 10% additional import duty will be applied to various cold-rolled flat steel under HS code 720...Read More

Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Europe have been under pressure from limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 20."The market is very quiet. Buyers are not interested in placing orders because they have high stocks," a Northern European trader said."There are some signs of a slow recovery, but it is very slow. Generally speaking, demand is still absent, especiall...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe have been fairly stable due to slow market activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 20.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?410 ($448.14) per tonne on Wednesday, up by only ?,?0.16 per tonne from ?,?409.84 per tonne on Tuesday.Wednesday's index was calculated based on deals heard at ?,?405-415...Read More

Swedish steelmaker SSAB plans to extend temporary layoffs for its Finnish sites until September at least in a response to a downturn in the European steel market, the company said in a release on Wednesday May 20. In April, SSAB agreed temporary layoffs at its Finnish sites averaging three weeks in April-June with its employees and announced steelmaking output cuts. With economic conditions a...Read More

Steel rebar prices in Europe have remained largely stable over the past week, supported by costlier scrap, with buying remained limited especially in the south, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 20.Buying activity was slow in the south of the region because the key rebar-consuming sector, construction, was still running at low rates while various countries eased their way out of their Covi...Read More

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Turkish steel mills stayed out of the deep-sea scrap market on Wednesday May 20, with national holidays and Covid-19 lockdown measures continuing to inhibit trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition to the public holiday on May 19 and the upcoming Eid al-Fitr break - from Friday May 22 to Tuesday May 26 to mark the end of Ramadan - the country's major cities remained subject...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 36 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US 72.00 cents following release of the April Canadian Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 0.6% versus a decline of 0.6% in March. Actual was a drop of 0.7%..Lowe's gained $6.80 to $123.67 after reporting higher than...Read More

Prices for H2-grade heavy steel scrap remained stable in Japan over the past week after several deals were booked to Vietnam, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 20.Deals for H2 material were heard at ?23,000 ($214) per tonne fob to Vietnam in recent days, equivalent to $248 per tonne cfr South Vietnam and $253-255 per tonne cfr North Vietnam, Fastmarkets heard.The Japanese deals cam...Read More

The seaborne price indices for coking coal rose further on Wednesday May 20, except for the premium hard coking coal cfr China index. There was active trading in the seaborne market with several transactions reported.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $118.98 per tonne, up by $2 per tonne.Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $124.62 per tonne, down by $0.29 per tonne.Hard co...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Wednesday May 20 amid slow trading activity, bringing to an end a run of consecutive increases seen since the start of May.Fastmarkets iron ore indices  62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.95 per tonne, down $1.41 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $99.54 per tonne, down $1.45 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $84.05 per t...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices went up slightly on Tuesday May 19 due to trading activity in the Chinese market, but concerns arose over tighter restrictions on imports, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $116.98 per tonne, up $0.67 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $124.91 per tonne, up $0.81 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $90.56 per tonne, up $...Read More