Get ready to enjoy higher silver prices that are likely here to stay!by Stewart Thomson of Graceland UpdatesDec 29, 2020 1. Gold is the ultimate asset and investors who took my $1778 buy recommendation are looking good.2. The big question now is: Will the traditional Chinese New Year rally occur, or will there be a test of the recent lows?3. Please click here now. Double-cli...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed at the close on Wednesday December 30 amid low volumes and quiet market conditions.The LME three-month aluminium price rebounded slightly but remained marginally below the $2,000-per-tonne support level. It edged up by $8.50 to $1,999.50 per tonne, with just 6,697 lots of aluminium trading by 5pm London time, compared to over 20,0...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in the fob and cfr markets diverged slightly on Wednesday December 30 while market participants were in wait-and-see mode as the New Year approaches.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.39 per tonne, down $0.49 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $200.06 per tonne, up $0.26 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $90.05 per...Read More
Base metal futures made minimal trade on Wednesday December 30 morning, with market participants expecting the market to remain sluggish until after China's New Year holidays in February, Fastmarkets heard.In news, Chile - the world's top copper miner - is set to reach its peak total copper production in 2028 at 7.35 million tonnes, a 26.9% increase from 5.79 million tonnes in 2019,...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa's Hong Kong operation has become a member of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) in an effort to increase opportunities for direct rough and polished trading in mainland China.The move will also strengthen ties between Alrosa and the SDE, the miner said Wednesday."In 2020, demand for diamond jewelry in China increased," Alrosa deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev noted. "Covid-19-related t...Read More
RAPAPORT... Members of Mumbai's Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) have voted in favor of allowing lab-grown trading on the premises of the exchange.The change will go into effect once the BDB has created guidelines for the sector, India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said in a statement Tuesday. Companies will be permitted to trade in lab-grown diamonds only after they have...Read More
RAPAPORT... Amid a challenging year for the industry, diamonds proved the coronavirus pandemic couldn't dampen their appeal. Several stones made headlines, set records, exceeded expectations, or simply showed their sellers the money. Most of all, they caught our attention in 2020.Bringing in the big bucks1.Bundle of bluesIn November, Petra Diamonds sold a set of five blue, type IIb, gem-quality di...Read More
RAPAPORT... A few hot topics usually dominate our annual list of the most-read items on Diamonds.net. Synthetics, grading and crime tend to be among them.This year, however, one theme - the coronavirus - stood out, responsible for the vast majority of the top 10. These stories ranged from the closure of trading halls to De Beers' and Alrosa's pricing strategies during the pandemic.Here are th...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed at the close on Wednesday December 30 amid low volumes and quiet market conditions.The LME three-month aluminium price rebounded slightly but remained marginally below the $2,000-per-tonne support level. It edged up by $8.50 to $1,999.50 per tonne, with just 6,697 lots of aluminium trading by 5pm London time, compared to over 20,0...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pandora said today that its Q4 results are likely to be better than predicted when they are announced in early February.Consumer spending on travel has been curtailed by Covid restrictions, it says, freeing up more money to spend on gifts and feel-good purchases.December revenue beat expectations and underlying performance remained "solid," said the Denmark-based jewelry chain, whi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has joined the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) in a bid to strengthen its position in mainland China.The move opens up new opportunities for direct trade in rough and polished gems in the world's sixth-biggest diamond-importing nation, especially with Covid overseas travel restrictions boosting the domestic market. Alrosa has been trading in China since 2005, has t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Online sales of jewelry in the US were up almost 45 per cent this year compared to last.That's according to an end-of-year report by Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures overall retail sales across all payment types, including cash and check. Total retail jewlery sales fell by just over four per cent, as the pandemic hit bricks and mortar revenue, but e-commerce rose...Read More
Iran's export prices for steel slab and billet increased again over the week to Wednesday December 30 following deals being secured at even higher prices over the week, Fastmarkets learned.A total of 110,000 tonnes of Iranian slab was sold in two tenders during the week, sources told FastmarketsThis comes at a time when Iran's export billet and slab prices are at their highest since early 2018, wh...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its Shanghai copper cathode premiums, which were published in error on December 25 and December 28.Fastmarkets published prices for registered copper cathode premiums on a seaborne and in-warehouse basis for the Shanghai market outside of its pricing calendar, and has now removed this information.Fastmarkets prices commodity-grade base metal premiums on days when the Lond...Read More
Base metal futures made minimal trade on Wednesday December 30 morning, with market participants expecting the market to remain sluggish until after China's New Year holidays in February, Fastmarkets heard.In news, Chile - the world's top copper miner - is set to reach its peak total copper production in 2028 at 7.35 million tonnes, a 26.9% increase from 5.79 million tonnes in 2019,...Read More
The discount paid for ferro-nickel with 26-32% nickel content in China fell to its lowest level on Fastmarkets' records in December due to a lack of demand and no price competitiveness. Fastmarkets assessed the ferro-nickel premium/discount, 26-32% Ni contained, cif China at a discount of $1,800-2,200 per tonne on Tuesday December 29, widening from a discount of $1,000-1,300 per tonne on November...Read More
Shipments of copper scrap for import into China have been trading at a bigger discount in December, with many cargoes stranded at Chinese ports while customs officials carry out inspections under the new import policy."For birch/cliff covered with paint or other impurities the samples are sent to laboratories, so it is taking a long time for clearance," a scrap importer said. A scrap trader said c...Read More
Corween Investments, the holding company for Liberty House, was given a lease for the insolvent Polish steel plate producer Huta Czestochowa earlier this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 30.In late December bankruptcy trustee Mateusz Bienioszek signed a lease agreement for Huta Czestochowa with Corween Investments, several sources familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets "I ca...Read More
Corween Investments, the holding company for Liberty House, was given a lease for the insolvent Polish steel plate producer Huta Czestochowa earlier this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 30.On Monday December 28, bankruptcy trustee Mateusz Bienioszek signed a lease agreement for Huta Czestochowa with Corween Investments, several sources familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets...Read More
Closures at Hyundai Steel's electric arc furnaces (EAFs) in Incheon have reduced supply and raised prices for steel beams in South Korea, a company spokesman told Fastmarkets.Hyundai closed two EAFs at its Incheon works in mid-October due to a $100-million upgrade of its steel beam rolling process, the spokesman said on Tuesday December 29.Following the update, South Korea's second largest steelma...Read More