Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday December 31 that are worth another look.The global pig iron market remained strong, but activity was limited during the week to December 31 due to the end-of-year holiday period.Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar finished 2020 at 70% capacity utilization, ramping up...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States reached the highest level seen all year - and in more than 12 years - on the final day of 2020. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $51.50 per hundredweight ($1,030 per short ton) on December 31, 2020, up 0.5% from $51.25 per cwt the previous day and 3% higher than $50 per cwt a week prior. This is the highest le...Read More
Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar finished 2020 at 70% capacity utilization, ramping up production from stoppages related to the Covid-19 pandemic and weather conditions earlier in the year, the company said."[We will] continue to gradually seek production planning that allows for the partial resumption of the remaining capacity usage," Aluar said in a filing to the country's securities and exc...Read More
The advent of Covid-19 pushed prices to their lowest levels during the first quarter of the year, yet by the end of 2020, most underlying prices on the London Metal Exchange had bounced back to multi-year highs. Fastmarkets looks at why some metals outperformed others.Figure 1: LME Indexed performance up until December 24.Copper - cash price gain of 25% ($6,179.50 per tonne open 3 Jan to $7,749 pe...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday December 31 that are worth another look.The global pig iron market remained strong, but activity was limited during the week to December 31 due to the end-of-year holiday period.Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar finished 2020 at 70% capacity utilization, ramping up...Read More
The advent of Covid-19 pushed prices to their lowest levels during the first quarter of the year, yet by the end of 2020, most underlying prices on the London Metal Exchange had bounced back to multi-year highs. Fastmarkets looks at why some metals outperformed others.Figure 1: LME Indexed performance up until December 24.Copper - cash price gain of 25% ($6,179.50 per tonne open 3 Jan to $7,749 pe...Read More
The rapid and significant falls in manganese ore prices in 2019 and 2020 have created 'frozen stocks', which are believed to have acted as a buffer for the ore market while also demonstrating some different characteristics over both years, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin ended 2019 at $3.92 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu), a decline of $2.19 per dmtu...Read More
The advent of Covid-19 pushed prices to their lowest levels during the first quarter of the year, yet by the end of 2020, most underlying prices on the London Metal Exchange had bounced back to multi-year highs. Fastmarkets looks at why some metals outperformed others.Figure 1: LME Indexed performance up until December 24.Copper - cash price gain of 25% ($6,179.50 per tonne open 3 Jan to $7,749 pe...Read More
Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange edged lower at the close on Thursday December 31, with a number of participants still out of the market due to the holiday season.But the majority of metals did close higher than where they opened the year on January 2, 2020. Three-month copper fell by $81.50 per tonne day on day to close at $7,766 per tonne. But the price was up by more than 25%...Read More
Aluminium inventories in Shanghai-bonded warehouses had the sharpest drop aside from nickel after stocks were delivered to China on a persistently open arbitrage window, while stocks for copper and zinc continued rising amid no arbitrage opportunities and little activity.Aluminium stocks significantly down on persistent opening arbitrage window Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai-bonded aluminium stocks...Read More
The global pig iron market remained strong, but activity was limited during the week to Thursday December 31 due to the end-of-year holiday period.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $530 per tonne on Thursday, up by 5% from $500-510 per tonne a week earlier.Pig iron exporters from the Commonwealth...Read More
Sentiment mixed as Mastercard reports holiday jewelry sales -4.3%, online +45%; general retail +3% driven by +49% growth in e-commerce. Diamond markets quiet due to end-of-year break. Diamantaires expect steady post-season demand. Manufacturers raising production after inventory levels declined in 2H. Focus on Chinese New Year orders leading to improvement in 0.30 to 0.89 ct., F-H, VS. Safdico buy...Read More
China's spot prices for battery-grade lithium carbonate moved up further on tight supply, and deals were secured at even higher prices over the week Thursday December 31China Deals for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China concluded at higher levels this week on tight availability of material; producer sources expect higher prices to emerge in the coming month. Offers for industrial-grade lithi...Read More
RAPAPORT...Pandora expects its full-year results for 2020 will exceed the company's earlier predictions, as strong sales in the fourth quarter outweighed the negative impact of coronavirus restrictions.The Danish jeweler expects revenue growth to be at least one percentage point better than the high end of its guidance range, it said Wednesday. It initially predicted sales would drop 14% to 17%. T...Read More
RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. investors approved LVMH's $15.8 billion acquisition of the company at a special meeting on Wednesday, paving the way for the transaction to close early in the new year.Shareholders of the storied US jeweler voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of the modified deal, LVMH said in a statement Thursday. More than 99% of votes were in favor, Reuters reported.LVMH expects t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Leibish Polnaur, veteran of the color diamond market, bought a quarter of the stones at Argyle's record-breaking tender.He outbid rivals for 16 of the 62 gems in the penultimate sale, marking the closure of the iconic mine, in Australia, after 37 years.Mr Polnaur, founder of Israel-based Leibish, said asking prices 15 per cent higher than last year so he upped his bids by "20...Read More
RAPAPORT... Independent jewelry retailers in the US reported solid sales over the holiday period, as consumers had more disposable income and more couples got engaged."Sales were fantastic," said Eva-Michelle Spicer, owner of Spicer Greene Jewelers in Asheville, North Carolina. "In December alone they were up 45% year on year, and last year was our best December ever. We are not only having more s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond exports from Surat almost doubled in November.India's cutting and polishing capital bounced back from lockdown doldrums with $1.1bn of overseas sales. That's a 92 per cent increase on November 2019, according to the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).The city's 7,000 manufacturing units have been working flat out since they returned to f...Read More
RAPAPORT... Bold designs, unconventional shapes, and big white diamonds are what our Instagram community loved best this year. Looking at the diamond-jewelry posts our 80,000 followers saved the most from @jewelryconnoisseur_by_rapaport, we saw that strong, fierce styles stood out. A "save" means the follower archived the image for future reference, making it a better indicator than a like, s...Read More
Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange edged lower at the close on Thursday December 31, with a number of participants still out of the market due to the holiday season.But the majority of metals did close higher than where they opened the year on January 2, 2020. Three-month copper fell by $81.50 per tonne day on day to close at $7,766 per tonne. But the price was up by more than 25%...Read More