The three-month price of copper on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday June 22, topping the complex with a 1.8% uptick despite thin trading volumes, while zinc's forward curve loosened over the afternoon.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,880.50 per tonne on Monday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $5,807 per tonne, but failed to breach nea...Read More

Strengths? The best performing precious metal for the week was silver, up 0.83 percent as hedge funds boost their net long position to a 14-week high. Swiss exports of gold to the U.S. hit another high in May to 126.6 tons. ETFs added 27,739 troy ounces of gold to their holdings on Thursday, marking the sixth straight day of inflows. Bloomberg notes that total gold held by ETFs r...Read More

Although the rally on Wall Street flouts common sense and arguably even sanity, born-again bulls continue to rampage. What will put an end to their foolishness? Surely not more grim economic data, nor an increase in what is already the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, nor a wave of business failures that could eventually asphyxiate the consumer economy. None of these problem...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold weekly chart shows support at 18-DMA just below $1,700. The market is at an upside bias, right below record highs:Read More

Highly UncertainReallocation ShockDemand ShockA Most Troubling DilemmaHow You Can HelpPuerto Rico and Final ThoughtsPredictions are difficult, especially those about the future. That old proverb (often attributed to Yogi Berra) is right but you can't live without making certain presumptions. You presume your car will start, your refrigerator will stay cold, the lights will turn on when you flip...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 22 that are worth another look.The dramatic consequences of the Covid-19-related lockdowns across Europe, and the corresponding shutdowns of industrial activities, have resulted in an enormous disruption to the supply chains across all sectors of the steel industry.Chilean state-run copper producer Codelco has decided to halt a...Read More

The recent decline in European ferro-silicon spot prices, which had been weakening in line with demand due to a slump in steel production over the course of several weeks, has paused; but the stabilization might be brief due to the approaching seasonal slowdown in July and August and an increase in lower-priced export offers into the EU.Thus, the bias in the market on prices is pointing down for t...Read More

The three-month price of copper on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday June 22, topping the complex with a 1.8% uptick despite thin trading volumes, while zinc's forward curve loosened over the afternoon.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,880.50 per tonne on Monday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $5,807 per tonne, but failed to breach nea...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Monday June 22 after an increase in cargo arrivals at Chinese ports last week, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $101.75 per tonne, down $0.67 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $104.19 per tonne, down $1.20 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $90.77 per tonne, down $...Read More

Fastmarkets' seaborne premium hard coking coal indices diverged on Monday June 22, with the fob Australia premium rising while other prices mostly edged down and market participants decided to take a wait-and-see approach.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $111.78 per tonne, up $2.58 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $117.36 per tonne, down $0.35 per t...Read More

There is a real threat of even more silver production lost due to the global economic slowdown... by Steve St Angelo of SRSrocco ReportWith the data now finally out, Peru's silver mine production collapsed in April. Due to the shutdown of a large portion of Peru's mining industry, as a result of the global contagion, the impact on the world's second-largest silver supply was enormous. While I...Read More

The export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States was firm during the week ended Monday June 22 because of demand in Turkey and despite high prices for raw materials.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $405-415 per tonne on Monday, widening upward from $405-410 per tonne the week before.A sale of Russia...Read More

Trading activity had slowed down by the end of last week in the CIS export market for steel slab, with mills closing their sales for August shipment and now evaluating the situation, Fastmarkets heard on Monday June 22.A sale of Ukraine-origin slab was heard to Turkey in mid-June at $385 per tonne cfr, equivalent to $370-375 per tonne fob Black Sea.And a Russian supplier sold a large cargo of slab...Read More

RAPAPORT... The diamond mining sector has been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis. There has been a significant drop in demand - when rough sales could even take place - forcing miners to reconsider their production programs for 2020. However, Lucara Diamond Corp. appears cautiously confident that it has the balance sheet, the sales platform, and the right product mix at its high-value Karowe mine...Read More

RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has appointed Rebecca Wooters chief digital officer to help expand its online offering in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic."Our omni-channel and digital transformation is even more important now with today's shift to online shopping," Signet CEO Virginia Drosos said last week. "Rebecca is joining us at a pivotal time in our...transformation journey, which we are acc...Read More

RAPAPORT... Angola is halfway through the construction of a $77 million diamond hub that it hopes will create revenue sources beyond the sale of rough diamonds.The hub is located in Angola's diamond province of Lunda Sul. It will contain a main diamond-cutting facility, a diamond evaluation and training center, and smaller manufacturing plants, Sodiam, Angola's state-owned diamond company, said la...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A diamond courier has allegedly disappeared from the Bharat Diamond Bourse, in Mumbai, India, with stones destined to be cut and polished in Surat.The so-called "angadia" is rumored to have become involved in a failed property deal as coronavirus hit trade, according to India's Economic Times.Angadias have become the cheapest and most trusted means of ferrying valuable consign...Read More

RAPAPORT... Mountain Province has reduced its production outlook for the year amid the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on operations.The miner now expects to produce between 6.3 million and 6.4 million carats in 2020 from the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine in Canada, compared to its earlier outlook of 6.75 million to 6.95 million carats, it said last week. That figure represents to...Read More

The aluminium extrusion billet premium reached an all-time low in Brazil while demand remained timid due to the Covid-19-related economic slowdown in the country and sellers focused on securing bargain deals for their customers, sources said on Friday June 19.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 & 6060 extrusion billet premium, cif Brazilian main ports at $230-260 per tonne on June 19, down fro...Read More

Chilean state-run copper producer Codelco has decided to halt all of its construction projects in the north of the country, including the underground phase of Chuquicamata, while the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the region, the company said on Saturday June 20.The current operations of the open pit at Chuquicamata will be maintained, however, with workers from the city of Calama, 20km to the s...Read More