With the CPI annual inflation rate spiking 5% in May, gold could have gained a lot in response. However, it rallied only $20. Should we prepare for more?Whoa! Inflation soared 5% in May – quite a lot for a nonexistent (or transitory) phenomenon! But let’s start from the beginning. The CPI rose 0.6% in May, after increasing 0.8% in April. Meanwhile, the core CPI, which excludes food and...Read More

The halfway point of the year is quicklyapproaching. Dwindling confidence and concern over the direction of the countryalong with rising inflation expectations continue to drive strong demand for physical gold and silver. Thattrend appears set to continue through the second half of 2021.Here are a few big stories with thepotential to drive bullion buying in the months ahead. Federal Reserve May Be...Read More

Gold endured a 20% correction over eight months. A 15% rebound followed that in two months. It has retraced some, but not a majority of the losses.This action is all part of the handle of a super bullish cup and handle pattern.The handle itself is part of a much larger bullish consolidation, but the market is approaching resistance within the handle.Below we plot GDXJ, GDX, Gold, and Silver. As yo...Read More

Inflation is back, and that’s usually depicted as good for gold. But is the yellow metal still a hedge against inflation, or has something changed?Inflation has returned. This is partly understandable. After all, during the Covid recession , consumers and businesses accumulated a lot of cash as their spending was reduced, while revenues were sustained by money transfers from the government....Read More

Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly price assessment for European high-carbon ferro-chrome (60-70% Cr), which was published incorrectly on Tuesday July 20 due to an error in the review process.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for MB-FEC-0004 ferro-chrome, high carbon, 6-8.5% C, basis 60-70% Cr, max 1.5% Si, delivered Europe, should have been $1.34-1.55 per lb Cr but was published as $1.34-1.6...Read More

Having adjusted to the major changes that occurred in 2020, the diamond trade is in an unusual position this year. The market has diverged into two streams: those centers where the economy is open again, and those still facing sporadic outbreaks of the coronavirus.Overall, the trade continues to benefit from the Covid-19 dynamic, as consumers are not yet spending on travel and experiences the way...Read More

Turkish steel mills remained silent on Tuesday July 20, with no bookings heard due to the ongoing week-long Eid al-Adha public holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.The Turkish deep sea scrap market has remained silent since material was last booked on Tuesday July 13.A public holiday on Thursday 15 July also slowed any possible trading...Read More

RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's sales soared 118% in the first fiscal quarter amid the relaxation of border restrictions and an economic rebound.Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for more than a year - in Hong Kong and Macau surged 111% in the three months ending June 30, the company said last week. Same-store sales of gold priced by weight jumped 106%, while purchases of fixed-price jewelr...Read More

RAPAPORT... Willie Nagel, a legendary diamond broker and pioneer of the Kimberley Process (KP), died on July 14, according to an announcement by his family in London's Jewish Chronicle.Nagel was born in 1925 in Czernowitz, then part of Romania, according to a 2018 profile in The Daily Telegraph. He came to London to study law, but he ended up brokering diamond deals: He started off working fo...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A hysterical bride was reunited with the diamond that fell out of her engagement ring at JFK Airport - thanks to an eagle-eyed TSA (Transportation Security Administration) officer.The New York couple were jetting off for a pandemic-delayed honeymoon on the far-flung island of Guam, in the Western Pacific, when they realized the gem had become dislodged.They boarded their plane in d...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  Tiffany & Co has abandoned its eight-year legal battle with Costco over its sale of generic solitaire diamond engagement rings bearing the jeweler's name.Both parties yesterday told a judge at Manhattan District Court, USA, that they had agreed to dismiss the case.No details of the settlement were disclosed but Costco lawyer David Bernstein said the companies had "am...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers' rough prices spiked in the first half of 2021 as supply shortages coincided with buoyant diamond demand at the trade and retail levels.The miner's price index rose 14% during the six months, reflecting "tightness in inventories across the diamond value chain, as well as positive consumer demand for polished diamonds," parent company Anglo American said Tuesday. De Beers...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.To quote Elon Musk, “We are running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.” What was once a heate...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Dan Gertler, the diamond and mineral billionaire accused of "suspect mining and oil deals", was allegedly behind the payment of $360m in bribes to officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).The claim is made in a joint investigation by the Bloomberg financial news website, the Africa Confidential online magazine and the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz."Insofar as is known,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Australian jeweler Michael Hill reported a rise in revenue during the fourth fiscal quarter amid the reopening of a number of its stores and a sharp increase in online sales.Group sales soared 116% to AUD 116 million ($85.5 million) in the three months ending June 30, the company said last week. Same-store sales - at branches open more than a year - grew 7.5%. During the period, Michae...Read More

A leading copper producer in China was investing billions into new projects to produce raw material for lithium batteries with the country going through a transition to the use of renewable energy.Jiangxi Copper planned to build a lithium-copper foil facility with capacity for 100,000 tonnes per year in Shangrao by 2028, according to a regulatory filing to the Hong Kong bourse on July 15.A total o...Read More

The London Metal Exchange's new aluminium duty-paid European premiums contract, which is settled againstFastmarkets' assessment, traded for the first time on Tuesday July 20.The cash-settled contract had more than 1,800 tonnes cleared in the LME's inter-office market at $359 per tonne for a September 2021 to April 2022 period. The contract, which launched on Monday July 19, is basis...Read More

A summary of BHP's copper, iron ore and nickel production results for the year ended June 2021.Australia-based resources company BHP's operational review, published on Tuesday July 20, is summarised below.In brief Annual copper production was down by 5% from the previous year, mainly due to declines at Escondida and Pampa Norte, both in Chile,...Read More

Anglo American increased its production of copper and manganese in the second quarter of 2021, but nickel production dropped, according to results released on Tuesday July 20.In brief Manganese ore production was 941,000 tonnes in the second quarter, up by 18% against the corresponding period last year. First-half manganese production was up by 13% year on year to 1.845 million tonnes. Copper prod...Read More

The London Metal Exchange nickel cash price is likely to hit $20,500 per tonne in the third quarter, with strong stainless steel demand and electric vehicle (EV) restocking driving the uptrend, according to analysts at Citi.Despite a sell off across base metals on July 19, Citi Metals Strategist Oliver Nugent told Fastmarkets that nickel fundamentals remain strong for Q3 and that he expects the pr...Read More