The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Bulk ferro-alloy prices have shown impressive gains again this month, with ferro-silicon, silicon metal and manganese alloy prices all making significant increases. Noble alloy markets also enjoyed upward momentum, with both vanadium and molybdenum prices rising sharply.Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together w...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR?  Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...Read More

Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More

The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...Read More

Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More

RAPAPORT... In the corridors of the Kimberley Process (KP) intersessional and plenary meetings, smartly dressed men and women exchange pleasantries as they gather to review progress in the KP implementation. Various working groups submit reports that all indicate great progress in ensuring traceability of diamonds and the ability of the scheme to stem out conflict diamonds. The generally agre...Read More

RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds has sold two special stones from its Cullinan mine in South Africa into a partnership with diamond sourcing and supply company Stargems.The South African subsidiary of Dubai-based Stargems Group purchased a 342.92-carat, white, type IIa diamond for an upfront payment of $10 million, Petra said Wednesday. The same buyer also paid $3.5 million for an 18.30-carat, blue...Read More

RAPAPORT... For consumers and media alike, the concept of sustainability is a hot topic, and rightly so. But the reality is that most consumers do not take the time to truly understand the positive and negative impacts of their purchases. We use cell phones constantly, but do we ever question the impact of technology production on the planet? Currently, there is a simplification of the broade...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds Limited has sold a 342.92 carat Type IIa white diamond (previously announced on 28 July) and an 18.30 carat Type IIb blue diamond, both recovered at the Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa.   The stones have been sold into a partnership with Stargems (Pty) Ltd. Petra will receive an upfront payment of US$10.0 million for the 342.92 carat stone and US$3.5 milli...Read More

The export market for flat-rolled steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States went down over the week to Wednesday August 25 on weak iron ore pricing and soft demand.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $890-895 per tonne on Wednesday, down from $915-925 per tonne a week earlier.A sale of Ukraine-origin HRC was made t...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers and National Geographic have launched Okavango Eternal, a strategic partnership to address one of the most critical conservation challenges in Africa.   The aim is to protect the source waters of the Okavango Delta in Botswana and the lives and livelihoods they support. The five-year commitment, which will help protect Africa's endangered species, ensure water an...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Angola's major diamond mine, Catoca, leaked a red-colored waste last month, causing waterways to fill with sediment before the leak was repaired, Catoca Mining Company said in a statement seen by Reuters.   Congolese researchers on Friday said pollution caused by a leak from a tailings dam, used to store waste mining material, had turned rivers red and caused fish to die...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Mining company Anglo Pacific Group PLC has appointed former De Beers Trading Company CEO Varda Shine as an independent non-executive director.   Shine will also serve on the company's audit committee, and will chair the remuneration committee, effective from 1 September.   "Varda is a highly experienced mining non-executive director, executive mentor and mining indu...Read More

An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves in the week to Wednesday August 25.Fola Malomo, Cristina Belda and...Read More

The spot special high-grade (SHG) zinc premium in the United States moved higher week on week after multiple market participants reported hearing of deals and offers for material at double-digit premiums.Fastmarkets' zinc SHG min 99.995% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US rose to 8.75-10.00 cents per lb on Tuesday August 24, up by 10.29% from 8-9 cents per lb the week before and up by 13.64% from...Read More

Stainless steel scrap prices in the United States declined slightly while consumer demand weakened due to maintenance outages and some production difficulties.One stainless steel melting facility has a one-week maintenance outage scheduled for September, and another stainless mill has been experiencing some production problems, according to some scrap dealer sources. As a result, those mills have...Read More

Chilean copper producer Codelco has initiated construction work on Rajo Inca, a $1.38-billion addition to its Salvador mine, which should begin operations in 2022, the state-owned company said on Tuesday August 24.Rajo Inca increases the mine life at Salvador by 47 years, to 2070, with copper capacity to reach 90,000 tonnes per year, from 60,000 tpy currently. Mineral exploration will move from an...Read More