On Thursday June 18, Fastmarkets launched two trade logs covering battery-grade lithium prices. The battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide trade logs cover the following prices: Lithium hydroxide monohydrate 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & Korea, $/kg  ...Read More

Glencore has embarked on a thorough review of the sustainability of its chrome facilities in South Africa in response to weak chrome prices and high electricity costs. The company has triggered Section 189 of South Africa's labor relations act for all employees at each of its chrome ore and alloy facilities there. Section 189 is a South African legal requirement representing an intention to retren...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday June 18 that are worth another look.Workers of Tata Steel's Dutch operations have planned another strike during the night shift, which will affect the hot zone, the trade union FNV Metaal said on June 18.Brazilian iron ore and metals producer Vale has scheduled the reopening of its Canada-based Voisey's Bay nickel unit to early Ju...Read More

Brazilian sellers have ramped up containerized exports of steel scrap into South Asian markets over the past year but this explosion in export sales is unlikely to be a long-term trend, sources have told Fastmarkets. Scrap collectors and processors in the country have traditionally sold the vast majority of their stocks in the domestic market, with only the excess being exported. But waning Brazil...Read More

The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was the top performer at the close of trading on Thursday June 18, with steady buying prompting its highest close since February, while copper futures consolidated above nearby support levels over the afternoon.Zinc's underlying price on the LME closed at $2,052 per tonne at  5pm London time, climbing from an intraday low of $2,012.50 pe...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday June 18 after Vale announced the gradual resumption of operations at its Itabira complex in southern Brazil. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $102.40 per tonne, down $1.69 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $105.17 per tonne, down $1.26 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $92.78 per...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price rose during morning trading on Thursday June 18, breaching nearby resistance levels after a sizable fresh cancellation, while zinc futures maintained Wednesday afternoon's gains in a steady consolidation above $2,000 per tonne.LME copper's outright price was recently at $5,847.50 per tonne, climbing by over 1% from Wednesday's closing price of $5,...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Demand outlook revisedWe are not surprised to see aluminium prices retreat from last week's high after flagging up in recent reports that they had become overbought. 'Sell-the-rally' traders will be targeting the April high now, down at $1,534 per tonne. This week we have reviewed our aluminium demand forecasts fo...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US prices continue to hold Seamless oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and line pipe prices remained unchanged for the third straight month in June, and we expect them to remain stable through the summer before edging higher on the back of a measured rise in drilling rates.The lack of price movement in recent months does not i...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR?On the back of US steelmakers' $50- to $60-per-ton price hikes in late April, domestic hot-rolled coil prices improved to a monthly average of $493 per ton in May, up from $488 per ton in April. In contrast, both cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized sheet p...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices climbed further last week and we expect the elevated levels to remain into the next month. In particular, further upside will come from blast furnace (BF) capacity, which was reduced in Europe, Japan and the United States and has now come back online after restrictions started to be removed. With Covid-19 spr...Read More

Sentiment improving as US retail shows signs of recovery with May sales +18% from previous month. Dealers and jewelers anticipating rise in bridal demand. Geopolitical tensions and Covid-19 outbreak in Beijing fueling caution about China. Rough producers see interest in large, investment-grade diamonds; D-IF prices firming in smaller-size polished (0.50 to 2 ct.). Surat factories operating at very...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) has published a book containing advice on how to interpret the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jewelry guidelines.Understanding the FTC Guidelines deciphers the complex rules governing the manufacture, sale, and advertising of jewelry, explaining clearly how to word online and print promotions, the JVC said Wednesday. The book is the result...Read More

RAPAPORT... Dear fellow human beings,A lot of you feel strongly about the recent events in the US, as the protests following George Floyd's death have raised much deeper issues of inherent racism, and people of all races have started to speak out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. As a Black woman, it was a particularly tough week for me. I am an ethical fine jeweler, using Fairtr...Read More

RAPAPORT... Grib Diamonds noted a modest increase in rough prices versus pre-lockdown levels as demand returned following a two-month pause in sales.The Belgian company, which sells production from AGD Diamonds' Grib mine in Russia, brought in just over $20 million from Tuesday's sale of around 350,000 carats. In total, 90% of goods sold by value, Antony Dear, Grib's head of sales, reported W...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Consumers have been making more "meaningful" jewelry purchases during lockdown, according to research by De Beers.Spending more time with family, and less time commuting, has shifted the focus from towards pieces that represent feelings of love and connection, rather than fun or practicality.Almost half (45%) of those surveyed in the company's monthly "deep dive into diamond-s...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds reported a rise in the average selling price for the first half of 2020, noting that appetite for its goods had improved at a recent tender in Antwerp."The results of the latest tender for Let??eng's large diamonds are positive," Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick said Thursday. "With certain stones selling above their anticipated post-Covid-19 valuations, it is clear...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's overall exports of gems and jewelry slumped by over 82 per cent in April and May as trade was devastated by COVID-19.Overseas sales amounted to just $568m, said the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), compared with $3.2bn for the same period in 2019.Exports of polished diamonds, mostly destined for the USA, were also well down, from $1.8bn to $389m."Exp...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The statue of De Beers founder Cecil Rhodes should be removed, says the Oxford college he attended.The governing body of Oriel College yesterday voted to launch an independent Commission of Inquiry, bowing to five years of pressure from students, which escalated in recent weeks in response the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, USA. T...Read More

The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was the top performer at the close of trading on Thursday June 18, with steady buying prompting its highest close since February, while copper futures consolidated above nearby support levels over the afternoon.Zinc's underlying price on the LME closed at $2,052 per tonne at  5pm London time, climbing from an intraday low of $2,012.50 pe...Read More