Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited (HKEX) has appointed Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin as its new chief executive officer, effective May 24, 2021. Aguzin will serve a term of three years until May 23, 2024, subject to the approval of the Securities and Futures Commission. Aguzin will also become an ex-officio member of the HKEX board of directors on the same day. HKEX is the owner of the London Meta...Read More

Base-metal prices on the London Metal Exchange rose across the board on Tuesday February 9, with copper showing the most marked increase of 1.4%, given the continued fall of the US Dollar Index.Meanwhile, attention to the Chinese New Year holiday, February 11-17, seemed to be taking a back seat.The Dollar Index came to 90.55 on Tuesday at 5pm, having bottomed at 90.50 throughout trading, its lowes...Read More

Of all of the things that could have possibly happened today, who would have guessed that Jamie Dimon would be meeting with Joe Biden?!by Chris Marcus of Arcadia EconomicsJamie Dimon (JP Morgan) is meeting with Joe Biden todayOf all of the things that could have possibly happened today, who would have guessed that JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon would be meeting with Joe Biden?! Read More

The seaborne coking coal market was flat amid limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 9.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.04 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.23 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.57 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $203 per tonne, unchan...Read More

Iron ore prices pushed up on Tuesday February 9, supported by the expectation of a positive outlook for demand after the Chinese New Year holiday, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.10 per tonne, up $3.60 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.46 per tonne, up $3.66 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:&nb...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The uptrend in European flat steel prices continued in January 2021 as expected, with the prices for hot-rolled coil in the North and South of the region averaging ?,?698 and ?,?686 ($840 and $826) per tonne respectively, within 1% of the Fastmarkets research forecasts.With European HRC prices climbing to their highest level...Read More

RAPAPORT... Esther Fortunoff's store has been through a lot in the nearly 100 years it's been in business. Her grandparents Max and Clara Fortunoff opened the shop in 1922 as a New York-based housewares store, but it segued to include jewelry in 1957. In 2005, the family sold the majority share in the then-20-store Fortunoff chain to two private-equity firms, which filed for Chapter 11 a few years...Read More

RAPAPORT... The diamond supply chain will return to pre-pandemic levels between 2022 and 2024, led by economic recoveries in China and the US, according to Bain & Company."For natural diamonds, we saw great interest and return-to-growth trajectory both in the US and China once lockdowns were lifted and stores started to open their doors," Bain partner Olya Linde told Rapaport News. "The growth...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil across Europe were stable on Tuesday February 9, with buyers holding back from making new deals because they anticipate a decrease in prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil across Europe were stable on Tuesday February 9, buyers hold back from making new deals on anticipated price decrease, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calcu...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Gahcho Kue diamond mine in Canada has suspended all operations after six workers tested positive for COVID-19. It follows a separate outbreak involving workers on contractor-operated winter road 25 miles away, although health officials do not believe the two are linked. The 335 workers currently at the mine (pictured), in Northwest Territories, have been confined to t...Read More

Base-metal prices on the London Metal Exchange rose across the board on Tuesday February 9, with copper showing the most marked increase of 1.4%, given the continued fall of the US Dollar Index.Meanwhile, attention to the Chinese New Year holiday, February 11-17, seemed to be taking a back seat.The Dollar Index came to 90.55 on Tuesday at 5pm, having bottomed at 90.50 throughout trading, its lowes...Read More

 (IDEX Online) - British boxer Amir Khan has bought his son a $40,000 Rolex watch as a first birthday present.The former light-welterweight world boxing champion posted a picture of the boy, Muhammad Zaviyar, on social media, together with one of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, a timepiece described by its Swiss makers as "the ultimate timing tool for endurance racing drivers".Multi-millionaire...Read More

The United States Midwest aluminium premium rose to a nearly six-month high on Tuesday February 9, with market participants increasingly bullish amid expectations that the Section 232 tariffs will persist after US President Joe Biden showed a willingness to invoke those tariffs last week.The Midwest premium is now at its highest level since mid-August 2020.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P...Read More

The global drive to a low-carbon economy will support new capacity growth, with aluminium and other industries restructuring and repositioning themselves, a senior executive at UC Rusal said.But whether this results in a premium or discount being paid for the material is not the key driver for this change, head of sales and marketing Roman Andryushin told Fastmarkets in an interview. "The supply s...Read More

Growth in China, the world's largest consumer of aluminium, may fluctuate over the coming months but is not expected to contract, according to the head of sales and marketing at UC Rusal. Roman Andryushin said he shares concerns that there may be pauses in Chinese growth, especially in the second half of the year, as the country works to rebalance its economy and prevent overinflation. At the same...Read More

UC Rusal is targeting sales of value-added products (VAP) to account for at least half of its total aluminium sales over the next 10 years, according to its head of sales and marketing. Roman Andryushin told Fastmarkets in an interview that the company may reach this sales level relatively soon and would then aim to boost the ratio even higher. "It's our priority for the next 10 years that we shou...Read More

South Korea's Public Procurement Service (PPS) has awarded a 1,500-tonne aluminium tender at a premium of $119 per tonne, which is about 2.5% lower than the premium for its previous tender a week ago. The awardee was once again Glencore International, according to the notice published by the state agency on Tuesday February 9. Glencore was also awarded the tender from PPS last week...Read More

Lower scrap costs in Turkey, along with a lack of demand for semi-finished steel, were the major reasons for falling billet export prices in the Commonwealth of Independent States on Tuesday February 9, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was calculated at $527 per tonne on Tuesday, down from $538 per tonne on Monday. Several market sour...Read More

Fastmarkets' Ferrous Analytics report helps subscribers...Read More

Buyers of flat steel in Saudi Arabia expected prices to decrease because of the current low demand, while buyers in the United Arab Emirates were waiting for next week to see the direction of price movement, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 9.China and India are the main flat steel exporters to the Gulf region. China will be on its national New Year holiday February 11-17, and no new p...Read More