The long steel market in Egypt was slow during the week ending Thursday January 14 because of soft end-user demand, with prices unchanged, market sources have told Fastmarkets.The main reason for the weak demand was the construction ban in Egypt, they added.Egypt imposed a ban on construction in May 2020, but eased the rules in September.Contractors and real estate developers were allowed to resum...Read More

Troilus Gold's exploration work at its Troilus project in 2020 is reviewed in a Canaccord Genuity report. In a Jan. 4 research note, Canaccord Genuity analyst Tom Gallo reported Troilus Gold Corp.'s (TLG:TSX; CHXMF:OTCQB) exploration progress in 2020 and the available results. Gallo presented the highlights of Troilus Gold's exploration work conducted last year. The Toronto-based company discover...Read More

Liberty Gold states the findings support the oxide gold model and another phase of metallurgical testing its Black Pine project. Three Liberty Gold Black Pine DiscoveriesLiberty Gold Corp. (LGD:TSX; LGDTF:OTCQB) announced in a news release that results of five large diameter, metallurgical core holes drilled at Black Pine in Idaho "yielded outstanding results in three zones, including two that we...Read More

China's iron ore imports increased by 9.5% in 2020 in comparison with 2019, Chinese customs data shows.The country imported 1.17 billion tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last year, compared with 1.07 billion tonnes in 2019, according to the statistics released on Thursday January 14.This is despite a 4.5% year-on-year drop in imports in December to 96.74...Read More

China's steel imports increased sharply in 2020 but exports declined from 2019 levels, according to Chinese customs data released on Thursday January 14.2020 imports: 20.23 million tonnes, up by 64.4% from 2019. ...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday January 14 that are worth another look.In 2020, the global pig iron market faced the threat of a demand slump due to the reduction in steel production from all major outlets under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.Rio Tinto is...Read More

Cobalt metal prices have continued to rally so far this week, with the latest round of Chinese buying tightening supply and emboldening sellers to hold out for higher prices. "Metal continues to move upward day by day, and you can't get the same low offers you got the day before," a distributor source told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam moved...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have reached their highest level in at least 60 years, Fastmarkets has learned. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $58 per hundredweight ($1,160 per short ton) on Thursday January 14, up by 6.7% from $54.38 per cwt on Wednesday January 13 and an increase of 7.1% from $54.17 per cwt one week earlier on...Read More

Mills in Bangladesh purchased three bulk cargoes in the last week, with prices easing gently, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Low scrap inventory, together with continuing difficulties in obtaining containers and ballooning shipping rates, led several steelmakers in the South Asian country to inquire for tonnages in bulk.A Bangladeshi mill booked a 38,000-tonne composite cargo at a...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday January 14 that are worth another look.In 2020, the global pig iron market faced the threat of a demand slump due to the reduction in steel production from all major outlets under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.Rio Tinto is...Read More

In an era of historically low interest rates, investors are desperately looking for value. If current activity is anything to go by, they believe it lies in commodities.That is because prices of key commodities are steadily gaining; copper has hit eight-year highs above $8,000 per tonne, nickel is at six-and-half year highs near $18,000 per tonne, and iron ore prices are at levels last seen in 201...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price rallied over 3% in the second half of the day on Thursday January 14 on building expectations for President-elect Joe Biden to announce a $1.5 trillion deal stimulus package for the United States. The nickel price rose to $18,281 per tonne at 5pm, the metal's highest closing price of the year so far and a rise of 3.4% from Wednesday's 5pm price of...Read More

The London Metal Exchange's latest off-warrant stock data showed an increase of 3.9% in material held outside the LME warehouse network in November 2020. The amount of metal held off-warrant increased by 72,640 tonnes in November, a similar rise to that seen in October, when it rose by 78,092 tonnes. Data collected by the LME showed there was a total of 1.96 million tonnes of metal held off-warran...Read More

Iron ore prices went up on Thursday January 14, sources told Fastmarkets, supported by a rebound in futures, with lump performing well at Chinese ports due to tight supplies. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $172.36 per tonne, up $2.25 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $172.78 per tonne, up $1.88 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:&...Read More

No need to speculate on how a "new" Biden Administration will treat gold & silver. We already saw it from 2008 to 2016 when...by Bix Weir of Road to RootaNo need to speculate on how a new Biden Administration will treat the precious metals market...we already saw it from 2008 to 2016 when Joe was Vice President. Biden has now selected the SAME TEAM that allowed silver market rigging to run rampant...Read More

Polished sentiment positive despite limitations on travel due to Covid-19. Shortages supporting prices. Suppliers anticipate strong 1Q inventory replacement after relatively good US holiday season. Signet Jewelers Nov.-Dec. revenue flat at $1.8B, same-store sales +5.6%, with strong +61% increase in e-commerce. Rising expectations for Feb. 12 Lunar New Year as retailers see robust China recovery. C...Read More

RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers reported a positive holiday season as soaring online sales helped compensate for the pandemic's adverse impact on store traffic.Revenue was flat year on year at $1.8 billion for the nine weeks ending January 2, while same-store sales jumped 5.6%, the retailer reported Thursday in a preliminary trading update. E-commerce sales surged 61%, offsetting a 4.1% drop in s...Read More

Italian re-rollers have been targeting higher prices for heavy steel plate because of rising costs for steel slab feedstock, while German mills have kept their offers largely unchanged, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Official offers of heavy plate from Italian producers have been heard at ?,?620-650 ($755-792) per tonne ex-works. But no deals have been concluded in this range beca...Read More

RAPAPORT... Mountain Province's share of production at the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine fell 4% to 3.2 million carats in 2020 as the company struggled with coronavirus-related restrictions to its operations.Total output for the mine fell 4% to 6.5 million carats for the full year, the company said Wednesday. However, that figure was higher than the company's revised guidance of between 6.3 million and...Read More

RAPAPORT... Three industry insiders share their predictions for the diamond and jewelry trade in 2021.Elle Hill CEO of industry consulting firm Hill & Co. While many bemoan 2020 as a year they would like to forget, the challenges 2020 laid at our doorstep created the necessity to reimagine almost everything about the way we do business - proving that necessity is the mother of invention....Read More