European producers of heavy steel plate increased their offer prices in the week to Wednesday March 3 following a rise in the cost of steel slab, sources have told Fastmarkets.Italian re-rollers have been offering plate at ?,?670-720 ($771-857) per tonne ex-works for April delivery products. These new prices, however, have not been heard in any confirmed transactions.As a result, Fastmarkets' week...Read More
Domestic prices in Europe for steel cold-rolled coil increased further over the week to Wednesday March 3 due to a material shortage, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel CRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?860-870 ($1,036-1,048) per tonne on March 3, up by ?,?10-20 per tonne week on week from ?,?840-860 per tonne.The assessment was based on achievabl...Read More
Nickel's futures price on the London Metal Exchange plummeted by over 6% at the 5pm close on Wednesday March 3 following the news that Norilsk Nickel expects to stabilize flooding issues at two of its mines next week. The Russian company, the world's largest palladium and high-grade nickel producer, suspended operations at Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines due to flooding from natural groundwater las...Read More
Nornickel said it would review restarting two nickel and copper mines in the Polar Division on March 9, which were partially suspended on February 24 due to flooding, Fastmarkets understands.The amount of production lost at the Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines, which reportedly account for more than one third of Nornickel's Russian ore, is unknown, but nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange dipp...Read More
Further deals for the supply of aluminium ingot to main Japanese ports (MJP) for the second quarter concluded on Wednesday March 3 at a premium of $148 per tonne cif MJP, market sources told Fastmarkets. The deals were agreed at a premium of $148 per tonne on top of the London Metal Exchange cash price, just below the level agreed in deals on Tuesday at $149 per tonne. Multiple market participants...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's gold-jewelry exports to the US have fallen over the past decade and a half following an erosion of the Asian country's preferential trade status, according to a report by industry leaders.Competitors in the Far East, Europe and the Middle East have captured market share from India since 2007, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said Tuesday. The shift...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong slid again in January amid a fourth wave of the coronavirus and a later Lunar New Year.Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts fell 32% year on year to HKD 3.37 billion ($434.3 million) during the month, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Wednesday. Sales across all retail categories s...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has raised its production outlook for 2021 after rough-diamond demand picked up at the start of the year.The Russian miner plans to recover 31.5 million carats this year, an increase from its previous forecast of 28 million to 30 million carats, it said Tuesday. That would result in a 5% jump in output versus the 30 million carats Alrosa produced in 2020."When we report out...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Almost one in three brides-to-be (32 per cent) were disappointed by their fiance's choice of engagement ring, says a new study. More than one in 10 either said they'd been hoping for a larger diamond or had been hoping for something a little more unusual.Almost half (46 per cent) of the British women surveyed for Hatton Garden jeweler Queensmith said they'd have...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price picked up above the $9,200 per tonne mark and aluminium neared its 2021 high in morning trading on Wednesday March 3, while the rest of the complex was largely stable following a rally of over 3.5% on copper and tin prices on Tuesday. Copper's price rose by 0.6% on Wednesday morning to around $9,225 per tonne, following increases since the start o...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa reported a 49 per cent fall in profits last year as the pandemic hit demand and forced the closure of its less profitable mines.But Q4 showed strong indications of a recovery, with revenue, earnings and profit all significantly up.The Russian state-owned miner saw 2020 profits tumble from $850m to $432m and output was down 22 per cent to 30m carats.It said increased sales in...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sarine turned a $1.4m loss for 2019 into a $2.4m net profit for 2020, even though the pandemic saw revenue drop by a fifth. Sales of its diamond scanning machines and software were badly hit by four months of manufacturing lockdowns in India and nine months of restrictions on retail diamond sales globally.But the Israel-based company said it had operated profitably by taking s...Read More
Spot trading sentiment in the global copper market is low this week with buyers cautious on the high copper price and backwardation, leaving premiums mostly stable except for a slight rise in Rotterdam, sources told Fastmarkets on March 2. The London Metal Exchange cash-to-three-month copper spread is in a $49.75-per-tonne backwardation on March 2Copper buyers are hesitant after the recent copper...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A dedicated "Made in India" page on eBay is being created to boost the country's global sale of gems and jewelry.It's part of an agreement between the trade body GJEPC - Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council - and an Indian eBay subsidiary.The aim is to help consumers find goods from India all together in one place.The eBay subsidiary ES Online Services will provid...Read More
Zinc premiums in Europe rose in the week to Tuesday March 2, with sellers taking advantage of a contango in the London Metal Exchange cash/three-month spread and restricted availability of the galvanizing metal.US lead premium holds near eight-year highHigh freight costs pressure US zinc premiumPreliminary ILZSG estimates put the refined lead market in a 223,100-tonne surplus in 2020Fastmarkets an...Read More
Tata Steel Europe has announced that its chief commercial officer, chief technical officer and executive director of human resources will depart the company without being replaced.Karl Heider, CCO, and Ernst Hoogenes, CTO, will depart at the end of March while Tor Farquhar, the third...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Europe moved further up over the week to Wednesday March 3, due to a coil shortage combined with strong demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?748.75 ($901.83) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?8.75 per tonne from ?,?740.00 per tonne on March 2.The index was...Read More
Hot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliDetailed mapping and geophysics is planned for the first half of 2021 in advance of first-pass drilling, with assay results pending for mapping and soil geochemical work already completed in December and January across Santiago Z.The Santiago Z ground is primarily contained within exploration leases privately held by the same Chi...Read More
ArcelorMittal has restarted blast furnace (BF) B at its Ghent plant in Belgium after completing a modernization, the steelmaker said on Wednesday March 3.Originally, the producer planned to resume the BF in mid-February but the restart was postponed due to severe weather conditions."The new BF, which was given an optimal shape, was completely re-lined and equipped with state of the art automation...Read More
Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipAuteco has the right ingredients with PickleSPONSOREDauteco mineralsAzure's Western Australia nickel success could get golden hueSPONSOREDazure mineralsHot Chili knock, knock, knockin' on tier 1 doorSPONSOREDhot chiliThe company said yesterday it had issued about 9.4 million units priced at $3.30 per unit.It also said Gree...Read More