FTSE 100  closes up 30 ptsUS blue-chips volatile after opening jumpSmurfit Kappa strong on rejected bid approachJust Eat shares plunge FTSE 100 closed up over 30 points at 7,146, but off the session high of 7,197, as US shares turned weaker and Brexit fears rumble on.The UK premier index added 0.43% on the day, while FTSE 250 added over 123 points at 19,690.In the currency markets,...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will try to keep any new steel and aluminum tariffs from hurting the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday.“I think we have a way of managing through this,” Mnuchin told House of Representatives lawmakers during a hearing on President Donald Trump’s budget proposal.Reporting by Jason Lange Disclaimer: The...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macro-economic news last night and what is expected today.Last nightWith the US dollar hovering around the 90 level as the trade war simmers, base metals saw mixed trading. SHFE aluminium inched up, LME copper and tin rose slightly, while both SHFE and LME zinc dropped some 2% due to the jump in inventories.The Sentix investor confidence in...Read More

Demand for flat steel will remain strong in Turkey through March and price increases are expected to continue because producers are fully booked until late May, market participants told Metal Bulletin this week. "Producers are fully booked until mid-May, so they have increased their prices. And end-user demand is okay, so prices have some more room to rise," one trader said on March 2. "...Read More

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo on Tuesday ruled out talk of a bilateral trade treaty with the United States, saying the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is currently being renegotiated, must remain a three-country accord.Guajardo also said in a local TV interview that if the U.S. government were to push ahead with metals tariffs that included Mexico,...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) –Copper: We see an upward room in copper prices as downstream consumption continues to recover and sellers are keen to destock. LME copper is expected to trade at $6,890-6,970 mt with SHFE at 52,000-52,700 yuan/mt today.Aluminium: LME aluminium is facing increasing downward pressure but support was seen at the five-day moving average. We expect it to trade at $2,135-2,1...Read More

Hastings Group Holdings PLC (LON:HSTG) was a weak spot in late afternoon trading, with its shares down 2.3% to 270p as the insurance group was downgraded to 'neutral' from 'buy' by Swiss bank UBS as it thinks the stock is 'lacking near term catalysts.'The FTSE 250-listed firm also saw its target price cut to 290p from 350p.The analysts at UBS said: "With near term newsflow likely to be negative an...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough diamond trading was robust in February, with De Beers notching $555 million in sales during the month. Prices remained strong, fueling concern among sightholders that their profit margins were tightening."We had a good few months, and polished prices have increased. That has encouraged the mining companies to raise their rough prices," a Mumbai-based supplier said at last we...Read More

ALROSA Group, the largest diamond miner in the world, reviewed the results of geological prospecting in 2017. Total diamond reserves, taking into account the explored deposits under the National Reserves Committee standards, increased by 57.8 million carats during the year (excluding the depletion of reserves). As of January 1, 2018, it was 1,182 million carats. In 2017, ALROSA spent a total of al...Read More

China's major mills continued to raise their crude steel output rates in mid-February, which also led to an increase in inventory levels amid the Chinese New Year celebrations in the country.Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) produced crude steel at an average rate of 1.7996 million tonnes per day during the second 10 days of February, up 14,900...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) – The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s copper downstream industries is expected to be 54.61 in March, according to SMM survey. This would compare with 38.43 in February. For editorial queries, please contact Daisy Tseng at daisy@smm.cn For more information on how to access our research reports, please email service.en@smm.cnRead More

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States on denuclearization and will suspend nuclear tests while those discussions are under way, the South said on Tuesday after a delegation returned from meeting the North’s leader Kim Jong Un.Responding to the news in a series of tweets, U.S. President Donald Trump said he saw “possible progress” and that &...Read More

(IDEX Online News) - There was a moderate decline in the IDEX polished diamond price index during February.   Diamond Prices Show Multi-Month Decline Polished diamond prices have moved in a downward direction for the past 18 months.     Outlook   The global diamond centers reported solid activity overall, with industry restocking after a successful holiday sales season, and...Read More

6 March 2018 - De Beers Group today announced the value of rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auction Sales) for the second sales cycle of 2018.Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: "The second sales cycle of the year saw the continuation of good rough diamond demand. This was in line with expectations, following strong retail sales of diamond jewellery during the US holiday se...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company garnered $1.7 million at its secondrough sale of 2018, achieving an average price of $804 per carat. The miner sold 2,072 carats at the tender, it said in arecent statement. The diamonds are from the company's Lulo alluvial mine inAngola. The largest stone Lucapa sold weighed 44 carats. The company alsooffered a 1.9-carat vivid pink diamond. Lucapa's first tender...Read More

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday on signs of easing tensions in the Korean Peninsula and mounting pressure against potentially damaging metals tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump.North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States on denuclearization and will suspend nuclear tests while those talks are under way, the South said on Tuesday after a delegation returned...Read More

(IDEX Online) - ALROSA said that its total diamond reserves, taking into account the explored deposits under the National Reserves Committee standards, increased by 57.8 million carats during the year (excluding the depletion of reserves) to 1,182 million carats.   In 2017, ALROSA spent a total of almost RUB 8 billion on prospecting and onsite exploration. At the same time, the company launc...Read More

Coming off of 2017, a year in which global diamond supply by volume increased by 11.7% year-over-year, supply is forecast to contract by 3.4% to 147M carats in 2018 (see appendix at bottom for itemized analysis by mine).Out of the world's top three diamond miners by volume, only De Beers is expected to increase production this year, while diamond output at Russia's ALROSA (MICEX: ALRS) and diver...Read More

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Global mining exploration budgets are expected to swell about 20% this year, bolstered by the generally positive trend in metals prices extending into early 2018, a new report by S&P's Global Market Intelligence has found.Global spending on the search for nonferrous metals rose 15% year-on-year in 2017 to an estimated $8.4-billion, compared with $7.3-bill...Read More

The three-month copper price rebounded over $7,000 per tonne for the first time this month at the close on Tuesday March 6, with the metal undergoing a short-covering rally. "Given the drop in open interest so far this week, LME copper seems to be experiencing a short-covering rally. But fresh buying needs to emerge to make the LME copper strength sustainable," Boris Mikanikrezai, Metal Bulletin a...Read More