Representatives of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) accompanied King Filip of Belgium on a state visit to South Korea. During the state visit, Golden Dew, one of Korea's largest jewelry brands, launched three special cuts it developed together with Antwerp diamond companies. During the visit in March, three special diamond cuts were presented to the general public in the presence of the Kin...Read More

A sale of CIS-origin slab to Italy was heard agreed last week at a price lower than in other recent deals, sending the CIS export slab price assessment downward on Monday April 1.A cargo containing 25,000-30,000 tonnes of Ukrainian slab was reported sold to Italy at $510-512 per tonne cfr, equivalent to around $490 per tonne fob Black Sea. But market participants had expected such a development.Th...Read More

Turkey's flat steel exports increased by 38.12% year on year in February 2019 amid increased demand in Europe, according to the latest figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).Yet current demand for flat steel is weak in the country's key export markets, so export volumes may decrease in the next few months, Turkish market participants told Fastmarkets.Turkish producers have been offe...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsWith more than US$100 million spent on exploration since the acquisition, the company has doubled the resource base at the mine.Read More

Prices for shipbreaing scrap prices in Turkey have gone down slightly this week with one steel mill reducing its buying prices, but auto bundle scrap prices remained stable over the past week, sources said on Monday April 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic melting scrap from shipbreaking was $320-325 per tonne on April 1, narrowing downward from the $320-330 per tonne deli...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsThe two companies entered into a partnership for the project in December 2015 following a bilateral government agreement. The deposit has a resource of 982 million tonnes grading 0.89% copper and 0.04% molybdenum.A ceremony for the creation of a limited company for the JV was attended by Ecua...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued to hold back from the deep-sea scrap markets to watch which way the market moves after the mayoral elections held across the country yesterday, sources said on Monday April 1.The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has claimed victories in the coastal Aegean and Mediterranean provinces, as well as in major cities including Istanbul. It also claims to have...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Global...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsAn updated technical report said the company planned to expand the project from 85 million tonnes per year to 100Mtpy from 2023. The expanded throughput involves the earlier development of the adjacent Colina pit, the addition of a ninth mill, an expanded mining equipment fleet, additional co...Read More

Better Chinese manufacturing data has surprised the market and boosted three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange by an average of 1% this morning, Monday April 1. Nickel led the way with a 2.2% gain to $13,285 per tonne, up from Friday’s close at $12,995 per tonne, while tin was the laggard with a 0.4% gain. Aluminium, zinc and lead were all up by 0.9%, while copper was...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicalsCompany management believes that by proceeding with early works and financing activities in parallel, it can seek board approval to commence Rosemont construction by the end of 2019.Read More

Iron ore prices continued to strengthen on Monday April 1 on more news about supply disruptions.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $88.69 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $1.88 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $87.81 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $1.88 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $90.23 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $1.41 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $79.86 per tonne cfr Qingdao...Read More

Seaborne iron ore concentrate prices softened further and pellet prices strengthened a bit in the week ended Friday March 29. Trading remained inactive for both.ConcentrateThe weekly MB 66% Fe Iron Ore Concentrate Index stood at $96.73 per tonne cfr China on Friday, down by $0.90 per tonne from a week earlier.The daily MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index averaged $97 per tonne cfr China last week compared wi...Read More

The weakness in the seaborne coking coal spot market persisted on Monday April 1 with participants anticipating further price decreases."End users are staying by the sidelines mostly because the market is still in a downtrend. This, coupled with the short-term uncertainties in the coke market, means seaborne coking coal prices will not get too much support," a...Read More

Rio Tinto has issued a warning over a possible iron ore output loss of 14 million tonnes due to disruptions to its production in Australia caused by a cyclone that hit the country's west coast last month.The miner said on Monday April 1 that it was expecting its Pilbara iron ore shipments in 2019 to be at the lower end of its 338-350 million tonnes guidance.The miner last week declared force majeu...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 5 00 futures were up 20 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to news that the China Caixin March Manufacturing PMI increased to 50.8 versus consensus at 49.9. An Index above 50 implies GDP growth at an increasing rate. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.6%.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of Febr...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were all higher during morning trading on Monday April 1 after being boosted by forecast-beating manufacturing data from China.Optimism about a potential Sino-US trade deal and low stocks in many of the metals also continue to bolster sentiment. The three-month nickel price rose furthest and is now trading comfortably above $13,200 per tonne, up by a...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices dropped slightly on Monday April 1 but trading activity was higher than in previous days.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,830-3,850 yuan ($571-574) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,770-3,790 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneTrading was robust in the morning when prices were around 3,830 yuan per tonne in Shanghai, which motiv...Read More

Better Chinese manufacturing data has surprised the market and boosted three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange by an average of 1% this morning, Monday April 1.Nickel led the way with a 2.2% gain to $13,285 per tonne, up from Friday's close at $12,995 per tonne, while tin was the laggard with a 0.4% gain. Aluminium, zinc and lead were all up by 0.9%, while copper was up by 0.7%...Read More

Fastmarkets will cease the daily publication of its physical arbitrage for imports of copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel into China from April 1, 2019. The data will still appear in Fastmarkets' price book on a daily basis as usual, however.Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for imports into China daily by using the Shanghai Futures Exchange front-month and London Metal Exchange three-m...Read More