Mexico's ferrous scrap prices increased further in the week to Friday June 18, with buyers continuing to compete for material, especially the higher grades.Fastmarkets assessed the steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Monterrey at 11,600 pesos ($578) per tonne on June 22, up by 400 pesos from 11,200 pesos a week earlier. This marked the fourth consecutive...Read More

Aluminium premiums diverged again on Tuesday June 22, with Rotterdam premiums increasing, while the Japanese premium fell and the US premium was unchanged.Rotterdam premiums boosted by demand, logisticsMJP ticks down, South Korea unchangedUS Midwest premium steady for three weeksStrong demand, high freight rates boost Rotterdam premiumsPremiums in Rotterdam continued to climb, due to strong demand...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 22 that are worth another look.Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe remained in a wide range on June 22, with some buyers ready to accept high prices for material with shorter lead times,...Read More

All three-month prices for base metals on the London Metal Exchange rose by about 1% for the second day in a row on Tuesday June 22, continuing their recovery from the weakness of the previous seven days.Nickel's three-month price rose by the greatest margin on Tuesday, by 1.6% to $17,750 per tonne, following Monday's 1.7% increase to $17,450 per tonne.The metal suffered a 7.2% decline last week t...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices continued to rise in the cfr market due to tight supplies, while prices were largely stable in the fob market, with market participants adopting a wait-and-see attitude, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 22.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $177.87 per tonne, up $0.59 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $290.19 per t...Read More

Join Fastmarkets and the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday June 29 for a webinar about European aluminium premiums ahead of the launch of the LME's new cash-settled futures contract.The LME will launch its new European duty-paid aluminium premium cash-settled contract on July 19, which is settled against Fastmarkets' benchmark aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam.The LME previously la...Read More

A popular meme is that the banks smashed the price by selling futures contracts, though there was no...by Keith Weiner of Monetary-MetalsThe price of gold (and silver) was on a tear in April and May. Then some sideways action. And then this week, thud.On Twitter, a popular meme is that the banks smashed the price by selling futures contracts, though there was no selling of gold bars. Let's just sa...Read More

ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Yellen Disses Gold & Silver Investors, US Mint Should Be Ashamed! (by Half Dollar) The former Fed Chair turned highly paid Banking & Corrupt Insiders' Event Circuit Speaker turned current US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's words may induce vomiting, but don't take 'Ol Half Dollar's word for it.Just try to hold down your lunch for yourself when the career public "servant" says...Read More

The Silver Riggers are panicking! This ONLY happens when they are in TROUBLE!by Bix Weir of Road to RootaThe Silver Riggers are panicking! On Thursday they dumped 1,063,130 oz of Silver Derivatives on the COMEX to "Tamp Down" the price below tech moving averages. This ONLY happens when they are in TROUBLE! Buy now while you still can!! Read More

Offers of steel rebar and wire rod from the Commonwealth of Independent States were lowered somewhat over the week ended Monday June 22, with the intention of drawing in customers amid a lack of demand and growing competition with Turkish suppliers.Turkish mills were offering rebar for export at $730 and $760 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis at the end of last week, compared with $750-780 p...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe remained in a wide range on Tuesday June 22, with some buyers ready to accept high prices for material with shorter lead times, sources told Fastmarkets.Northern European steelmakers have been reported to have good order books, and they have been holding back from making official offers. The region's mills were sold out of HRC until fourth-quarter roll...Read More

RAPAPORT... Indian banks have increased lending to the gem and jewelry industry, helping stem the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country's major trade organization said this week.Credit released to the industry jumped to INR 627 billion ($8.44 billion) in March 2021 from INR 546 billion ($7.35 billion) in July 2020, according to the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).P...Read More

RAPAPORT... A spike in demand for graded diamonds is responsible for the ongoing backlog of goods at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the organization explained to Rapaport News. While government restrictions have curbed business activity in India since a dramatic rise in coronavirus infections there from late March, the GIA stressed it had been working at the maximum allowable capacity...Read More

RAPAPORT... Despite the lockdowns, mask mandates, economic anxiety and fraught political landscape, 2020 wasn't a bad year for jewelers. "So many retailers find themselves in the best cash positions they have had in years, if not the best in their history," says Abe Sherman, CEO of business consulting firm Buyers Intelligence Group. US jewelry sales figures for March 2021 testify to that: The...Read More

RAPAPORT... Namakwa Diamonds, owner of the Kao mine in Lesotho, plans to sell a pink diamond weighing 21.86 carats at a tender in Antwerp next month.The miner recovered the Pink Palesa - meaning pink flower in the local Sesotho language - last month, according to brokerage and consultancy firm Bonas Group, which is organizing the sale. The Kao mine, which Namakwa operates through subsidiary S...Read More

Glencore will restart operations at its Mutanda copper-cobalt facility toward the end of 2021, and plans to return the asset to normal production in 2022, the global miner said on Tuesday June 22.Glencore placed the facility, which is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on care and maintenance in late 2019 following a slump in cobalt prices.Mutanda can produce around 25,000 tonnes per year....Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's Hong Kong could make cryptocurrency history when it auctions a 101.38-carat diamond next month.Buyers will have the option of paying in Bitcoin or Ethereum.That means the stone could set a record as the highest-priced diamond - or indeed any physical object - ever to be sold in a crypto-transaction.The high estimate is $15m - equivalent to BTC515 or ETH8787 at today&...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A buyer paid $2.7m, the highest price ever for a diamond auctioned online.The 50.03-ct G-color, VVS2-clarity round gem, with excellent cut, polish and symmetry, was sold by Sotheby's New York without reserve. The estimate was $2.5m to $5m. Eleven individual bidders from seven countries battled it out for what the auction house says was only the fifth round +50-ct diamond...Read More

All three-month prices for base metals on the London Metal Exchange rose by about 1% for the second day in a row on Tuesday June 22, continuing their recovery from the weakness of the previous seven days.Nickel's three-month price rose by the greatest margin on Tuesday, by 1.6% to $17,750 per tonne, following Monday's 1.7% increase to $17,450 per tonne.The metal suffered a 7.2% decline last week t...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Eight suspects have been arrested over an attempted gem heist in which smoke bombs caused panic among the crowds at St Mark's Square, in Venice.Visitors feared a terror attack was under way when the raiders struck in March 2017.It soon became clear the confusion was a cover for an attempted robbery at a high-end jewelry store.A tourist alerted police and the raiders - at least...Read More