The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices have shot up as market participants have judged the supply risks from Covid-19 higher at this point in time when there is already a tight seaborne market. Despite the efforts to ramp up, Vale is struggling to catch up with its pre-dam disaster export volumes and its slow recovery has only been hit further by...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron oreSentiment in the iron ore market continues to be dominated by concerns about supply disruptions in Brazil. Prices spiked above $100 per tonne after reports that there had been a recent surge of Covid-19 cases at Vale's three mines in Itabira. A...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferrous scrap consumption rates of Chinese integrated mills appear to have declined this year on a per-tonne basis. This year has seen the ratio of pig iron to steel output tighten, leaving increasingly less room for scrap consumption. Over the first four months of 2020, the pig iron-to-steel ratio has been above the pr...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Lockdowns and restrictions of movement in several cities in Brazil have increased worries about the potential impact on iron ore export volumes. The situation has already had an impact on the market sentiment. These concerns, combined with strong demand from China, have boosted iron ore prices. The fall in shipments from Bra...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto has no plans to purchase Dominion Diamond Mines' 40% share in the Diavik site, the Australian company said in a court filing.The miner, which already owns 60% of Diavik and manages the site through subsidiary Diavik Diamond Mines (DDMI), also has no interest in buying Dominion's Ekati mine, it noted."DDMI does not seek to interfere with or participate in the Ekati market...Read More
RAPAPORT... Around eight diamond-cutting businesses in Surat have closed parts of their factories after a coronavirus outbreak.Authorities ordered the shutdowns after 20 to 23 workers tested positive for the virus, Colin Shah, chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), told Rapaport News Monday. Several staff members have entered a 14-day quarantine as a result.The...Read More
Companies that can serve up accessible, relatable products via digital media will have the best chance of tapping into this demographic. RAPAPORT... Despite all the nights of lost sleep over whether millennials will still want to buy diamond jewelry, it turns out this group is not so dissimilar to previous generations. Generation Z, though - now aging into relevance - is a different beas...Read More
Swedish stainless steel producer Sandvik is to cut 429 jobs from its Sandvik Materials Technology division later this year because of the negative impact on business of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Today, Sandvik gave notice of layoffs in Sweden for 429 positions within its Sandvik Materials Technology business area," the company announced on Tuesday June 16.The layoffs will occur at Sandvik'...Read More
(IDEX Online) - GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has launched an automated system that can distinguish lab-grown melee from natural stones.It's addressing concerns that simulants, laboratory-grown and HPHT treated natural diamonds, are deliberately being mixed in to parcels of natural diamonds.The GIA Melee Analysis Service sorts the screened diamonds by color range. Clients can also sp...Read More
(IDEX Online)- Three spectacular pieces of diamond jewelry, one featuring a 27.02 carat fancy brown-yellow diamond, are to be auctioned to support healthcare workers fighting coronavirus.They've been specially created by renowned Taiwan-born designer Anna Hu and will be sold by Christie's to help Diamonds That Care, a social responsibility initiative launched by Russian miners Alrosa.All...Read More
China has released a minimal amount of quotas in its eighth announcement in 2020 to allow importers to source copper and aluminium scrap from overseas, Fastmarkets understands. An extra 1,570 tonnes of copper scrap and 5,840 tonnes of aluminium scrap could be allocated for import into the country this year, the environmental ministry said on Tuesday June 16.So far...Read More
RAPAPORT... Arunkumar R. Mehta, a prominent leader of India's diamond industry, passed away on June 14, 2020. He was 80 years old.Shri Mehta worked in the diamond trade for more than 60 years and is counted among the founding fathers of the industry in India. He cofounded B. Arunkumar & Co. in Mumbai in 1960, which eventually became Rosy Blue, a prominent diamond manufacturing company. "I...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's will offer four jewels with high estimates totaling more than $28 million at its upcoming live auctions in Geneva and Hong Kong.The Geneva Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale, originally scheduled for April, will take place on June 23. The auction will feature a step-cut, 3.01-carat, fancy-vivid-blue diamond carrying a presale value of $4.3 million to $6.3 million, the a...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price increased by more than 2% during morning trading on Tuesday June 16 against steady turnover, while a strong incline in nickel futures brought its outright price to nearby resistance. LME lead's outright price was recently at $1,782.50 per tonne on Tuesday morning, climbing from an intraday low of $1,746 per tonne, while turnover was moderate at some...Read More
Copper stocks in Shanghai bonded warehouses have increased from the all-time low recorded on June 1, following the closure of the import arbitrage window.Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai bonded copper stocks at 217,000-227,000 tonnes on Monday June 15, up by 2.3% from 212,000-222,000 tonnes on June 1."The growth [in bonded stocks] makes sense because there has been no import profit since mid-May," a...Read More
Markets were stronger across the board this morning, Tuesday June 16, reversing the weakness seen at the end of last week and during early trading on Monday.The Federal Reserve's action to extend buying to a wider base of corporate debt suggests the central bank will "do whatever it takes" to support market sentiment, and indeed markets, if it can. Base metals prices on both the London Metal Excha...Read More
The Shanghai Futures Exchange will start trading aluminium and zinc options from August 10 after receiving approval from the China Security Regulatory Commission, the exchange said on Friday June 12.Options are one kind of risk management tool. An option is a contract which offers the buyer the opportunity to buy or sell - depending on the type of contract they hold - the underlying asset. Unlike...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have remained rangebound on expectations of flat or lower domestic ferrous scrap prices in July and uncertainty about end-use demand, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $25.44 per hundredweight ($508.80 per short ton) on Tuesday June 16, up by 0.5% from $25.32 per cwt on Monday June...Read More