Something BIG CHANGED in the silver market.. by Steve St Angelo of SRSrocco ReportWith investment demand for Silver Eagles continuing to be very strong, the U.S. Mint sold nearly 7 million of the official coins in the first six weeks of the new year. Even Gold Eagles' sales hit a new record in January, pushing premiums up to $150+ for the one-ounce 2021 official coin. I believe we are going t...Read More

If you are looking for a reason why silver was capped at $30 and declined...The latest from Ted Butler, via Silver SeekIn the latest Commitment of Traders report (COT), the issue I have nearly beaten to death for decades - the concentrated short position in COMEX silver futures - took center stage to a degree that had me check and recheck the data. It seems the 4 largest shorts in COMEX silver dou...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US hot-rolled coil prices moved in line with our forecasts in January, with actual prices modestly exceeding our forecasts for the month. Fastmarkets' US HRC index averaged $1,099 per ton in January, slightly above our forecast price of $1,075 per ton for the month. W...Read More

Slower trading as Far East markets close for Feb. 12 Chinese New Year. High hopes for China retail recovery during the season. Global jewelry sales -15% in 2020 after swift 4Q rebound with US +5% to +10%, China +15% to +20%, according to Bain report. US demand stable. Large volume of goods on short-term memo since travel restrictions are limiting in-person sales. Alrosa confirms strong Jan. rough...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sapphires are the most desired colored gemstone among US consumers, followed by rubies, emeralds and amethysts, according to a recent survey by MVI Marketing. Some 46% bought fine jewelry featuring sapphire in the past two years, the study found. Ruby and emerald each attracted 41%, with 35% buying amethyst. Overall, 93% said they "loved" or "liked" all precious colored gemstones....Read More

RAPAPORT... Industry leader Jose Hess died on Tuesday at the age of 87, according to the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), the organization he headed in the late 1990s.Hess passed away peacefully in his home in St. Augustine, Florida, CIBJO said in a statement Wednesday. He was distinguished for his life journey from Nazi Germany to the New York jewelry district via South America, as wel...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased day on day on Thursday February 11 due to good demand and long lead times, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?717 ($869.34) per tonne on February 11, up by ?,?8.67 per tonne from ?,?708.33 per tonne on Wednesday February 10.The index was also...Read More

RAPAPORT... A 23.58-carat diamond ring was the top lot at Christie's Jewels Online sale, fetching well above its high estimate.The piece, which featured a cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut, fancy-yellow, SI1-clarity stone, bracketed by two triangular-cut diamonds, brought in $325,000 against its $300,000 upper estimate, Christie's said Wednesday. In total, the auction running from Ja...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A 23.58-ct fancy yellow diamond, set in a platinum and gold ring fetched $325,000 in an online auction by Christie's New York.The price was above the high estimate of $300,000 in the Christie's Jewels Online that closed yesterday and achieved a total of $2,703,750.The top lot featured a cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut diamond natural color yellow diamond,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - BlueRock Diamonds says its Kareevlei mine, in South Africa, has a 10-year life after an updated resource statement indicated a a 53 per cent increase in net carats.The UK-based miner now says mine should yield 516,200 carats, compared to a 2018 estimate of 337,018 carats.It provides detailed breakdown of the five known diamondiferous kimberlite pipes  (KVW01-5) at its deposit....Read More

RAPAPORT... Three weeks in March 2020 underscored how fast the situation could change during Covid-19. On the third of the month, JCK announced that its annual Las Vegas shows would take place as usual in late May and early June, despite the outbreak. On the 17th of the month, it called them off.What happened in between was unprecedented. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Two senior citizens had jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen in a terrifying armed carjacking.Their van was hit in the back by the perpetrators' car as they drove to a Sunday morning swap meet in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.The 75-year-old driver said an armed man wearing a ski mask smashed the side window, pulled him out, pointed a gun at him and demanded the key.T...Read More

(IDEX Online) - When it comes to a wedding proposal, it seems the engagement ring is actually more important than a "yes".Just over half (51 per cent) of the 2,000 engaged Americans surveyed for De Beers said the ring was number one concern.Bizarrely, only 17 per cent said their top priority was that their partner should accept the proposal.Pictures of the proposal - during and afterward - were th...Read More

The zinc futures contract had the biggest increase among base metals on the London Metal Exchange, and lead surpassed the $2,100-per-tonne mark at the close on Thursday February 11.The rest of the base metals held around their recently established highs.Zinc's three-month price climbed 2.4% on Thursday to $2,789.50 per tonne from its closing price of $2,725 per tonne on Wednesday February 10. Its...Read More

A summary of Belgian battery materials company Umicore's results for the full year of 2020 as stated in its report published on Thursday February 11. Record year for earnings and in the recycling divison. "Strongest financial performance" was buoyed by the recycling division, which showed a 92% increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda), thanks to stronger...Read More

Russian nickel producer Nornickel has received a new bill from a local government agency in Siberia, relating to an oil spill in the Arctic region in May 2020, the company announced on Thursday February 11.The new bill is for the sum of nearly $7 million and adds to a $1.93 billion federal government fine, which Nornickel contested but which was upheld by a Russian court on February 5.The latest c...Read More

A steady stream of unfunded yet highly prospective opportunities in the battery minerals space led Sir Mick Davis to form investment company Vision Blue Resources (VBR) earlier this year. After raising $60 million in the first few weeks, it has already made its first investment and more will soon follow, Davis told Fastmarkets. The former chief executive of Xstrata Plc said in an interview that ma...Read More

Aluminium producer UC Rusal has agreed to acquire the business and assets of Aluminium Rheinfelden GmbH out of insolvency, it said on Thursday February 11. Aluminium Rheinfelden is one of Germany's main manufacturers of aluminium alloys, semis and carbon-based components, and is a major supplier to the global automotive industry. The acquisition comes after the Germany-based aluminium products pro...Read More

Nickel's price, together with the bulk of the London Metal Exchange complex, consolidated on Thursday morning from highs hit on Wednesday, while the start of the Lunar New Year holiday has been felt in the total number of volumes traded on the LME.The three-month nickel price was at $18,600 per tonne at 9am on Thursday, on low volumes of just over 600 lots traded.The metal's price had reached $18,...Read More

Total London Metal Exchange off-warrant stock fell by 77,245 tonnes, or 3.9%, month on month to 1.88 million tonnes in December, according to its latest off-warrant stocks report. That is roughly the same amount by which stocks increased over November 2020, when data collected by the LME showed there was 1.96 million tonnes of metal held off-warrant. Although volumes of aluminium decreased by 4.9...Read More