Japanese buyers of seaborne coking coal will have to pay a higher price for their January-March volumes in comparison with the preceding quarter, with the emergence of fresh supply concerns last month leading to an uncertain outlook for prices in the coming quarter. Metal Bulletin's fob Australia Premium Hard Coking Coal Index averaged $236.07 per tonne over the December-February period, up 23% co...Read More

Iron ore prices fell further on Wednesday March 7 after a seaborne cargo changed hands at a lower price. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $75.84 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $0.23 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $77.33 per tonneMetal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $60.33 per tonne cfr QingdaoDaily change: down by $0.23 per tonneMonth-to-date average: $61.08 per.....Read More

Iron ore prices fell further on Wednesday March 7 with a cargo of seaborne materials changing hands below $75 per tonne cfr China.Key driversChina's ferrous futures tumbled across the board during the day, with the benchmark contracts shedding 0.5-2.4% of their values compared with the settlement prices on Tuesday.The country's spot rebar and hot-rolled coil prices also fell 20-50 yuan ($3.20-7.90...Read More

The stalemate in the seaborne coking coal market is starting to break, with some sellers lowering their asking price on Wednesday March 7 amid an abundance of premium materials on offer. "If Chinese end-users don't come out to buy, then the market is going to fall," an Indian trader source said. An East Asian mill source said that end-users had been quiet because they thought that there was nothin...Read More

Iron ore exports from Port Hedland in Western Australia dipped to their lowest level in seven months in February 2018, despite showing a year-on-year increase.The port shipped 38.50 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last month, up 7.9% from a 13-month low of 35.67 million tonnes in February 2017.But this was down 6.2% from January's 41.06 million tonnes, and the lowest level...Read More

Coal shipments from Australia's metallurgical coal hub of Queensland fell 4.4% on the year in February. Ports in the Australian state shipped 15.98 million tonnes of coal - including some thermal coal - last month, compared with 16.71 million tonnes a year earlier, according to the latest data...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board during morning trading on Wednesday March 7 - with nickel diving 1.6%.The three-month nickel price is continuing to have another rollercoaster month - it gained $260 per tonne at the close on Tuesday but is now trading $275 lower. "The new threat of trade wars and regional tariffs seems to have [unnerved] consumers in the...Read More

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Wednesday March 7*Copper -$86.77 (-550.08 yuan) Aluminium -$442.06 (-2,802.38 yuan) Zinc -$91.32 (-578.9 yuan) Nickel -$536.4 (-3,400.45 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices decreased at a faster pace on Wednesday March 7 following a weakening of the country's ferrous futures market throughout the day.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,050-4,070 yuan ($640-643) per tonne, down by 50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,990-4,010 yuan per tonne, down by 50 yuan per tonneThe paper market tumbled after sentiment deteriorated in antici...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin minor metals prices changed on Wednesday March 7:Antimony MB Chinese free market MMTA standard grade II, yuan/tonne: 53,000-53,500 yuan per tonne from 52,000-52,500 yuan Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $5.20-5.40 per lb from $5.05-5.40...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Chinese cobalt prices have remained stable so far this week, though deal prices for domestically-produced metal dipped after the rally in international cobalt prices faltered late last week.Metal Bulletin assessed the Chinese cobalt metal price at 620,000-650,000 yuan per tonne (equivalent to $37.97-39.80 per lb VAT-free) on Wednesday March 7, unchanged from the previous assessment on March 2. Spo...Read More

Copper demand derived from the shift to electric vehicles (EV) is expected to be constrained by availability of other key metals, including cobalt, a panelist said at Metal Bulletin's 31st International Copper Conference in Madrid on Wednesday March 7. "That demand for copper will only be required if we can find other elements. If we don't have other things, we can't even produce the electric cars...Read More

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are down across the board by an average of 0.3% this morning, Wednesday March 7. Nickel leads the decline with a 0.9% drop to $13,520 per tonne, while the rest are off between less than 0.1% and 0.3%, with three-month copper prices at $6,977 per tonne.Volume has been average with 6,272 lots traded as of 06.48am London time. Precious metals prices are...Read More

All MB non-ferrous UK scrap and foundry ingot prices were unchanged on Wednesday March 7.Read More

Canada's gold output will increase in the next five years to more than 300 tonnes annually, an 80% growth from current levels, research firm Wood Mackenzie said Wednesday.The rise in production would make the nation the world's second-largest bullion producing country, behind China, Vince Madden-Scott, manager of gold cost services at UK-based research firm said.Speaking at the 2018 Prospectors &a...Read More

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) is expanding its driverless trucks fleet in Australia by introducing 15 autonomous vehicles to a new mine in the Pilbara region.The trucks, to be deployed later this month to the West Angelas iron ore mine, are fitted out with the company's in-house autonomous haulage system (AHS), AAP reported.West Angelas, run by Rio's Robe River joint venture partne...Read More

Africa-focused Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD) is having an extraordinary year so far as the small miner continues to find precious rocks bigger than 100 carats at its flagship Let??eng mine in Lesotho.On Wednesday, the England-based company said it had dug up a 152-carat, top white colour type IIa diamond, the sixth major find so far this year.In contrast, it discovered only seven diamonds bigger tha...Read More

"The sale of The World's Most Expensive Dinner by World of Diamonds Group to V Diamonds has been canceled by a mutual decision of the companies, and World of Diamonds Group remains the sole owner of the ring and the $2 Million Dinner experience. The token sale planned by V Diamonds is canceled, and all the pre-subscriptions to the token sale will be refunded back to the participants," reads a medi...Read More

Representatives from the community-based organization Marange Development Trust appeared before Zimbabwe's Parliament to denounce that people in the Marange diamond fields are experiencing worse living conditions now that the Zimbabwe Consolidated Mining Company is in charge of the area.According to Chairman Malvern Mudiwa, the different kinds of abuses that villagers have been enduring for decade...Read More