Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More
The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More
Gold prices settled higher on Wednesday for the first time in four sessions, as a retreat in some assets considered risky, amid political uncertainties like Brexit, underpinned gains in the yellow metal. December gold GCZ19, -0.03% on Comex rose $8.20, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,495.70 an ounce, after a decline of less than 0.1% on Tuesday. Prices for the most-active contract remained below $1,500,...Read More
Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has kept its shipment guidance unchanged for its 2020 financial year (FY20) at 170-175 million tonnes, according to its latest quarterly report, released on Thursday October 24. The shipment guidance also included 17-20 million tonnes of the miner's 60.1% Fe Western Pilbara fines, a product first shipped out in December 2018.Strong demand from Chinese steel mills, with...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices looked set to find support from restocking demand in China in October but the outlook for the rest of the quarter and months ahead is uncertain.The spread between the mid-grade iron ore products, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 62% Fe iron ore, and the high-grade materials, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 65% Fe iron ore stood at $6.60 per tonne in September th...Read More
The continued unpredictability of trade relations between China and the United States has made long-term planning harder for businesses, including mining companies.But what would happen to the mining sector if the trade wars were to end overnight?According to the heads of the world's largest miners, the impact would be smaller than one might expect.For starters, there would not be a sudden rush to...Read More
Fastmarkets has identified several rounding discrepancies in its implied pellet premium historical prices between data published in the Excel file on the MB Iron Ore Index website; and those published in Price Book and distributed via the Excel Add-In. The Fastmarkets MB CFR China Implied Pellet Premiums are derived figures that are calculated by subtracting the weekly averages of the Fastmarkets...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 24, climbing by more than 1% amid low turnover while nickel futures maintained upward momentum over the afternoon.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $16,775 per tonne on Thursday, a climb of 1.2% on the day with just 241 lots of metal exchanged. This was among the metal's lowest tra...Read More
Trade unions representing workers for Chile's state-run miner Codelco have called on their members to mobilize in support of protests against the government.Union No1 for Codelco's Chuquicamata has joined Sindicato No1 for BHP's Escondida in backing protestors, whose opposition to inequality in the country has escalated into alleged looting and arson, and to violent confrontations with the militar...Read More
Electric vehicles (EVs) are forecast to reach cost and functional parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2025. Theoretically, this should create the global tipping point for mass market EV adoption, along with the development of the associated charging infrastructure required to accompany the growth.In practice, it is not quite as straightforward.A recent report by investment res...Read More
The world's largest low-grade iron ore producer has confirmed that it will bid for two blocks at what is considered the world's largest untapped high-grade ore resource, a move that reiterates what the industry has been saying over the past few years - that demand for green iron ore or high-grade ore is a structural change in the making."Following the release of information at a public meeting hel...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's mission to create more transparency in stock levels may not be popular with the whole market but it is a big step toward fixing key issues with the exchange, sources told Fastmarkets. The LME is expected to implement a series of reforms in 2020 that will make big changes to warehousing after it launched a market consultation in July this year. Extending the queue-b...Read More
Market analysts are preparing their predictions for base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ahead of LME Week 2019, but the recent volatility in LME nickel prices and spreads is proving an obstacle to price forecasting for the fourth quarter of the year.Trading houses and research analysts are giving ever wider ranges, seemingly not knowing whether to err on the side of their bear or bull...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 24, climbing by more than 1% amid low turnover while nickel futures maintained upward momentum over the afternoon.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $16,775 per tonne on Thursday, a climb of 1.2% on the day with just 241 lots of metal exchanged. This was among the metal's lowest tra...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's mission to create more transparency in stock levels may not be popular with the whole market but it is a big step toward fixing key issues with the exchange, sources told Fastmarkets. The LME is expected to implement a series of reforms in 2020 that will make big changes to warehousing after it launched a market consultation in July this year. Extending the queue-b...Read More
One of the largest producers of metallurgical coal expects rising steelmaking capacity in India and Southeast Asia as well as constraints on investments in steelmaking coal capacity to be the long-term drivers of the market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.40 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.07 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBC...Read More
Indian companies fillingfinal orders ahead of Diwali. Manufacturing slowing before the festival withfactories closing until late November. Steady demand for select categories buttraders struggling to sell unwanted items. Markets quiet in Israel, Antwerp andNew York following Jewish holiday period. De Beers inventory up in 3Q due toweak rough demand and despite production decline -14% to 7.4M cts....Read More
RAPAPORT... Rare pink diamonds from Rio Tinto's Argylemine in Australia will lead the upcoming Hong Kong Jewels and Jadeite auction atPhillips next month. The collection comprises 16 jewelry pieces,each incorporating stones from the Argyle deposit, which is the only knownsource of pink diamonds and is due to close next year. Chief among these willbe a ring that can be converted into a pair of...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies expects to register a "nominal" netprofit for the third quarter, as sales of mapping machines for small diamonds increasedamid a lessening of the midstream inventory crisis. The manufacturer of equipment for the diamond tradeforecast revenue of $14 million, representing 20% growth versus the $11.7million sales it reported for the same period a year ago. White t...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales are forecast toincrease by up to 5% this holiday season, while e-commerce spending could jumpby 18%, Deloitte said Tuesday. The predictions, initially outlined in the consultingfirm's annual holiday retail forecast, published last month, were reiterated inits latest holiday retail survey report, released earlier this week. Deloitte expected overallholiday retail s...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Firestone Diamonds plc sold 168,612 carats of diamonds during its first quarter ended September 30, 2019, realizing $10.6 million and an average per carat price of $63. This compares to the sale of 177,521 carats in the fourth quarter of 2019, which generated $12.7 million and an average per carat price of $71.The fall in revenue came despite the sale of a 37-carat fancy pink...Read More
RAPAPORT... Production at the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine failed to meet MountainProvince's expectations in the third quarter, as bad weather led to themining of lower-grade ore. Ore from the asset yielded 1.7 carats of rough diamonds pertonne in the three months ending September 30 - 28% lower than the same perioda year ago. Total output fell to 1.5 million carats versus 1.8 million in 2018,even as t...Read More