Seaborne iron ore prices declined on Monday December 28 due to a downtrend in steel prices over the weekend and cold-weather concerns in China, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.85 per tonne,down $2.20 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.50 per tonne,down $2.80 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $153.02 per tonne,down $1...Read More

Gold and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a measure of large investor interest, areexperiencing outflows as opposed to an almost interrupted inflow over the lastfew months.Mining stocks which either look for orproduce these metals have been moving sideways, testing the "mettle"of even perma-bulls.Many investors see these as negative signs. But I view it as a Mr. Market's last big eff...Read More

Gold plunged below $1,800. Will these declines finally end?November doesn’t look like a good month for gold. The declines in the precious metals market continued last week. As the chart below shows, the price of the yellow metal dropped to $1,779 on Friday (November 27). What is going on? Well, it seems that investors have switched into a risk-on state of mind, which sent the safe-haven asse...Read More

It’s crunch time for gold and the U.S.Dollar Index (USDX), as they find themselves at a crossroads. As of Wednesday,the USDX is holding its lows but wants to move up, thus invalidating itsbreakdown. And gold? Well, gold did gain a bit today, but it’s essentiallyjumping up in an elevator that’s moving down – it just doesn’t have enoughsteam to break out.While it’...Read More

Although the apparent results of the 2020 election are still being contested, members of the global ruling elite are already looking forward to a post-Trump era in American politics – and a post-vaccine world economy.They have encapsulated their policy agenda for 2021 and beyond into two words: “Great Reset.”The notion of a Great Reset comes directly from the World Economic Forum...Read More

The last time I wrote a title like the above was on June 19th; and wouldn’t you know that the correction ended the very next trading day? The consolidation breakout on Monday, June 22 created the gap you will see as a downside objective on the daily chart of HUI below.Gold Sector Correction is Maturing (6.19.20)That was a routine correction as gold and the gold miners were still part of one...Read More

Gold plunged to $1,800. What does this imply for the gold market?Whoa! Tuesday, November 24 wasn’t too good for gold. The price of the yellow metal plunged then from $1,840 to $1,800. Actually, November was an awful month for gold prices, which dropped from a local peak of $1,941, or more than 7 percent. So, what happened? Well, it seems that the positive news of the vaccines eliminated the...Read More

RAPAPORT... While many would consider 2020 one of the most challenging years the industry has faced, auction sales told a different story, as successful digital offerings changed the road map for how customers bought luxury products. "While undoubtedly there will still be a place for traditional auctions in the saleroom, the fast-tracked digital route in 2020 has already changed and will continue...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers, Alrosa and Rio Tinto have published their schedules for next year's contract sales, which account for the bulk of the miners' rough supply.De Beers will continue its format of holding 10 sights a year, although the company has been more flexible with the timing of its sales due to the pandemic. Alrosa will also maintain its policy of selling rough on a monthly basis, whi...Read More

(IDEX Online) -  LVMH's on-off-on-again deal to buy Tiffany & Co is finally set to be approved by the jewelers' shareholders on Wednesday, 13 months after it was first agreed.The French luxury conglomerate dramatically walked away from the $16.2bn acquisition in September, sparking bitter recriminations and legal threats from both sides.They went on to patch up their differ...Read More

(IDEX Online) - BlueRock Diamonds has announced two exceptional gem quality stones at its Kareevlei mine in South Africa, signaling the end of a poor run of recoveries. The UK-based miner, which reports all stones over $50,000, says it recovered two gems of 14.8 carats and 8.7 carats.It follows the recovery earlier this month of a 12.8-carat diamond, which has since sold for $76,000 and...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Small jewelry businesses in India say online sales have more than quadrupled since the pandemic struck.The balance has tipped in favor of e-commerce, with digital revenue now exceeding bricks and mortar sales for some enterprises, according to research by the Mumbai-based Crisil ratings agency.The swing is most marked at the lower end of the market, among non-precious, stone-studde...Read More

China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) is likely to conduct another round of cobalt metal stockpiling, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets.A producer source told Fastmarkets that SRB sent them a notice late last week informing them of the prospective purchase, though the date for holding the tender has not been mentioned. The source expected that the purchase would take place after the New...Read More

China imported 3.72 million tonnes of coking coal in November, down 39.7% from 6.17 million tonnes a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed.Coking coal imports in November were valued at nearly 2.2 billion yuan ($333 million), down 60.8% year on year and 42.5% month on month, according to the...Read More

An overview of the new energy raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Sybil Pan, and...Read More

Zinc stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses registered the biggest falls in the week to Friday December 25, while aluminium inventory levels rose by the most in percentage terms.Stock levels for other metals were mixed, with those for nickel and lead sliding from a week earlier while weekly delivery stocks for copper and tin registered increases.Zinc inventories totaled 32,854 t...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices declined on Monday December 28 due to a downtrend in steel prices over the weekend and cold-weather concerns in China, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.85 per tonne,down $2.20 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.50 per tonne,down $2.80 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $153.02 per tonne,down $1...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices rose on Monday December 28 after three days of decreases in the second half of last week but market participants do not expect the upward momentum to be sustained amid a pessimistic outlook for demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,430-4,450 yuan ($678-681) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneChina's Central Meteorological Administration has issued an orange warnin...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices slumped on Monday December 28 amid slumping futures, which discouraged overseas buyers from placing orders for Chinese cargoes.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,600-4,650 yuan ($703-711) per tonne, down 70-90 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said he was able to conclude small transactions at 4,650 yuan per tonne on Monday morning, but by the afternoon, he had...Read More

Demand for imported rebar in Singapore thinned in the past week amid the emergence of higher offers, industry sources told Fastmarkets on Monday December 28.Offers for back-to-back cargoes from steel mills in eastern and northern China were made at $660-670 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical weight basis during the week, while position cargoes from the same sources were at $630 per tonne cfr...Read More