The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR?In a strong start to the year, January saw ore and alloy pricing gains across all markets priced by Fastmarkets - with the exception of Chinese silicon metal export prices, which retreated slightly last month after posting impressive gains in December 2020.The combination...Read More

The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...Read More

Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More

Diamond market quieter as Belgium and Israel trades take vacation. Sentiment positive and prices firm. Dealers seeking opportunities and gaining confidence to buy at higher price levels. US retail recovery driving demand. Polished inventory rising following high-volume 1H rough purchases. RapNet listings exceed 1.5 million diamonds for first time since March 2020. Supply shortages persist due to I...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa increased its rough-diamond prices by around an average of 7% at this week's contract sale, customers of the miner told Rapaport News.The hikes impacted the full range of Alrosa's goods, though they were steeper for sizes above 2 carats, with some categories up by more than 10%, the clients said. The miner also adjusted its assortments, making some boxes appear significantl...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa is not used to buying diamonds. As the largest producer of rough by volume, the Russian miner accounts for about one-quarter of global supply and is therefore second only to De Beers in setting the tone for the market. It was therefore somewhat unusual that Alrosa bought the majority of rough at an auction held by Russia's state gemrepository Gokhran in July. The company is usu...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Europe held fairly firm on Thursday July 29 despite a higher number of competitive import offers, market sources told Fastmarkets.Demand in Northern Europe has been weak due to the seasonal summer-holiday slowdown across the EU.The number of offers from European mills has been limited anyway. Suppliers in Germany were reported to be holding back from making new o...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers went back into the black in the first half of the year as sales and production rebounded from the Covid-19 crisis.Underlying earnings at the diamond miner reached $267 million for the six months ending June 30, compared with a loss of $214 million a year earlier, parent company Anglo American reported Thursday. Revenue more than doubled to $2.9 billion versus $1.22 billio...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa bought stockpiles of diamonds from the Russian government in a highly unusual bid to replenish dwindling inventory, ahead its current contract sale.A special auction was held last week by Gokhran, the state repository of precious gems and metals. Alrosa bought 70 per cent of the diamonds offered for sale.The miner has been warning of "a long period of supply deficit" in the...Read More

The London Metal Exchange's base metals prices were robust at the close of trading on Thursday July 29, supported in part by a US Dollar Index that reached its lowest since June 29 and fundamental factors affecting the metals themselves.The dollar index bottomed at 91.87 on Thursday, having reached a year-to-date high of 93.19 on June 21, following the US Federal Reserve bank's renewed dovish stat...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds has recovered a 342.92-carat Type IIa white diamond from its Cullian mine, in South Africa.The UK-listed miner said it was of exceptional color and clarity.In March, it sold a smaller rough stone from the same mine - a 299.3-carat white gem, also Type IIa -  for $12.18m.It was bought by Stargems DMCC, Dubai-based arm of the Antwerp diamond supplier.Earlier this...Read More

Chinese importers have been buying double the copper scrap from overseas under the category of 'recyclable copper material', yet its growth in secondary copper production is relatively modest. The country's import volume of copper scrap (HS code: 7404) almost doubled in the first half of 2021 to 821,376 tonnes. It is up 90.8% year on year from a base number affected by outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020...Read More

Aluminium delivery from northern China through central China remains restricted due to flooding in Hennan, with a section of the Longhai Line railway under repair, sources told Fastmarkets."Aluminium ingot in Northern China cannot be delivered to the south because they cannot pass through the Longhai line. So local areas can only consume current stocks... [aluminium] stocks in [the] Wuxi warehouse...Read More

Former schoolteacher and union leader Pedro Castillo said it was not his intention to nationalize Peru's economy and pointed that the country needed a "new way of doing mining in its territory" in his inaugural speech as president on July 28. Castillo was elected Peru's new president after a contested second round of elections held in June. His left-wing party, Peru Libre, won 50.13% of valid vote...Read More

A summary of the first-half production results from Anglo American.In brief Anglo American attributed an overall increase in copper production by 5% to the continued strong performance at Collahuasi and planned improved water availability at Los Bronces in Chile. Copper production at Los Bronces increased by 9% to 163,200 tonnes due to higher water availability owing to water management...Read More

Lundin Mining's copper production was down during the first half of the year because planned lower grades at its Chapada mine reduced its output.The company's profit in the first half was up by 160% at $835.2 million, boosted by higher gold, copper and zinc prices.In brief: At 120,811 tonnes, copper production was down...Read More

A summary of nickel and zinc producer Terrafame's financial results for the first half of the year to June 2021.Net sales in the first half of 2021 were ?,?185 million ($219 million), an increase of 7.2% year on year.The company said its battery chemical plant had ramped up production in June and deliveries of product to consumers began in July."Our new...Read More