Vale's permit for running operations in Brumadinho city was suspended for seven days following a landslide that caused the death of an employee from a third party contractor in the company's C??rrego do Feij??o mine in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state.The Brumadinho city hall decided to suspend the permit after the accident, which occurred during maintenance activities in the mine on Frida...Read More

Russia has introduced a temporary export duty on ferrous scrap exports to combat the threat of a shortage of steelmaking raw materials in the domestic market.On Friday December 18, Russia's Ministry of Economic Development approved a temporary export duty of 5% but of at least 45 euros per tonne on steel scrap exports, according to a statement...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday December 21 that are worth another look.Market participants in Asia are bracing for sharp price corrections amid historically high prices for steel, iron ore and ferrous scrap in the region, industry sources told Fastmarkets this week.China's Zhuzhou zinc smelter has successfully met...Read More

Transaction prices for domestic steel hot-rolled coil increased further across Europe in the week to Friday December 18, due to limited supply from both domestic and overseas suppliers.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?650 ($796.90) per tonne on Friday December 18, up by ?,?43.75 per tonne week on week and by ?,?112.08 per tonne month...Read More

Vale's permit for running operations in Brumadinho city was suspended for seven days following a landslide that caused the death of an employee from a third party contractor in the company's C??rrego do Feij??o mine in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state.The Brumadinho city hall decided to suspend the permit after the accident, which occurred during maintenance activities in the mine on Frida...Read More

Russia has introduced a temporary export duty on ferrous scrap exports to combat the threat of a shortage of steelmaking raw materials in the domestic market.On Friday December 18, Russia's Ministry of Economic Development approved a temporary export duty of 5% but of at least 45 euros per tonne on steel scrap exports, according to a statement...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday December 21 that are worth another look.Market participants in Asia are bracing for sharp price corrections amid historically high prices for steel, iron ore and ferrous scrap in the region, industry sources told Fastmarkets this week.China's Zhuzhou zinc smelter has successfully met...Read More

First Quantum has named Tristan Pascall its new chief operating officer while also announcing that one of its founders, Clive Newall, will relinquish his role as president.Pascall, who has worked at First Quantum since July 2007, was general manager of the Cobre Panama mine, the only major greenfield project in the copper industry, from its inception in October 2015...Read More

Consumers of noble alloys and cobalt who usually process scrap are expected to start taking more primary material early next year due to low metal prices and tight scrap availability in the fallout from Covid-19. Scrap availability has tightened because industrial operations were interrupted by shutdowns aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 during the first half of 2020, and then, reduced after...Read More

Market participants in Asia are bracing for sharp price corrections amid historically high prices for steel, iron ore and ferrous scrap in the region, industry sources told Fastmarkets this week.The price increases since early October have stunned market watchers with their speed and magnitude, leading many market veterans to compare it to a similar price climb in 2008 - and the precipitous drop t...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the close on Monday December 21 amid broad-based profit-taking. Lead was the worst performer, falling 3.9% to $1,959.50 per tonne at the close. Trading volume was relatively low with just over 5,000 lots. Lead stocks on the LME continue to rise, weighing on sentiment for the heavy metal. After big inflows of 13,000 tonne...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in both the cfr and fob markets increased on Monday December 21, with transactions active in the fob market.Coke producers in China also proposed a 10th round of price increases.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.39 per tonne, up $0.15 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $190.20 per tonne, up $1.78 per tonneHard coking...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices reached their highest since August 2008 on Monday December 21 after futures hit the daily upper limit of 5% while buying in the spot market was active.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,950-4,980 yuan ($757-762) per tonne, up 330-340 yuan per tonneSellers in Shanghai were offering around 4,950 yuan per tonne when futures started at high levels this morning. Spot pri...Read More

RAPAPORT... Mumbai's Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) is on the verge of allowing lab-grown trading, with members due to vote on the matter next week.The board of the world's largest diamond hub has recommended the move, arguing that better detection and increased awareness have made it easier to segregate synthetic stones from natural ones. The poll will take place at the annual general meeting (...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of luxury items in China have increased "exponentially" in 2020, led by growth in consumer demand for jewelry, according to Bain & Company.Purchases of jewelry and leather goods on the mainland have risen approximately 70% to 80% since the beginning of the year, while ready-to-wear clothing and shoes grew about 40% to 50%, Bain noted last week in its China Luxury report, cond...Read More

RAPAPORT... Stargems sold $87.5 million in rough diamonds at a tender in Dubai last week, benefiting from strong trading in the global market for goods above 0.75 carats.Some 115 buyers purchased a combined 379,912 carats at the sale, making it the largest rough-diamond tender in the history of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) said Thursday. The sale f...Read More

RAPAPORT... Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) has elected Joseph Esposito as the new chairman of its board of directors.Esposito is executive vice president of National Chain Group, a contract manufacturer and supplier based in Rhode Island, MJSA said last week. As chairman, he will succeed Steven Cipolla, who is president at National Chain Group and has headed MJSA since 20...Read More

RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports showed a stabilizing trend in November as buoyant Chinese demand helped ease the decline the industry had seen for most of this year.Global shipments fell 3.2% year on year to CHF 1.94 billion ($2.19 billion) for the month, the gentlest drop since January, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported Thursday. Exports to China skyrocketed 70% to CHF 301....Read More

(IDEX Online) - The iconic Argyle mine, which closed last month, has sold the most valuable fancy vivid diamond in its 37 years of tenders.Owners Rio Tinto aren't disclosing the price paid for the 2.24 carat Argyle Eternity (pictured), which was bought by Harsh Maheshwari, director of Kunming Diamonds, in Hong Kong.Mr Maheshwari, who bought a number of the other 61 rare pink, red, blue and vi...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto achieved record value at its 2020 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, with bidders raising their offers for the stones following the mine's closure.There were 62 pink, red, blue and violet stones up for sale, weighing a total 57.23 carats. It allowed participants to view the goods using livestreaming and a virtual portal at locations in Antwerp, Singapore and Perth, Austra...Read More