The aluminium P1020 Midwest premium in the United States declined to its lowest level in 11 weeks on Friday March 29, with narrowed contango spreads on the London Metal Exchange prompting some traders to discount amid waning spot demand from consumers. Fastmarkets AMM assessed the P1020 Midwest premium at 19-19.25 cents per lb on March 29, after holding the range at 19.25-19.5 cents per lb since t...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has proposed an enhancement of its warehouse stock reporting model in a bid to garner further transparency against a recent tide of inordinate stock moves, it said in its latest warehousing discussion paper released on Friday March 29. In accordance with the LME's warehousing committee, the bourse has unveiled nine warehouse proposals to counter the expansion of ware...Read More

Brazilian miner Vale reported reduced nickel production of 244,600 tonnes in 2018, down 15.1% from 2017's 288,200 tonnes.The depressed year-on-year figures come despite the company increasing its fourth-quarter nickel production by 14.9% to 64,000 tonnes, up from 55,700 tonnes in the third quarter of 2018.The figures were published in Vale's fourth-quarter production results on Wedn...Read More

The copper market in the United States jumped in morning trading on Friday March 29 amid optimism that the global trade war will soon be resolved, boosting metals prospects.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 6.85 cents per lb to $2.9410 per lb.Trade talks between the US and China continued to show little progress in their attempts...Read More

A cargo of 30,000 tonnes of Chinese-origin alumina has been sold at 2,810 yuan ($417.10) per tonne fob Yantai port to Glencore in recent days, a source familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets on Friday March 29. The price is equivalent to around 2,560 yuan per tonne ex-works, taking into account nearly 250 yuan per tonne for freight to Yantai port and other costs. This is 3.8% or 100 yuan per to...Read More

Zinc stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses dropped by 5.3% week on week as of Friday March 29 on improving consumer demand. Deliverable zinc stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses have fallen by 6,170 tonnes since March 22 to 109,804 tonnes as of this Friday. This week's fall follows a sharp drop of 8,064 tonne on March 22, before which stocks had been climbing continuously sinc...Read More

The price for cold-rolled coil firmed up in the United States over the past past week due to steady demand, while the base and all-in prices for coated steel were steady compared with the previous week, market participants said.Fastmarkets AMM's weekly assessment for domestic cold-rolled coil moved to $42 per hundredweight ($840 per short ton) on Thursday March 28, up by 50 cents from $41.50...Read More

The prices for US imports of steel beams has risen on confirmed sales of Mexican material while the price for domestic beams remained stable, Fastmarkets AMM has learned.Fastmarkets' assessment for imported beams is now $790-810 per short ton ($39.50-40.50 per hundredweight) delivered duty paid Port of Houston as of Thursday March 28, up 3.9 % from $740-800 per ton ($37-40 per cwt) previously. At...Read More

Ukraine's largest long steel producer, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, is currently holding cold tests of its two new continuous casting machines - also known as CCM No2 and CCM No3 - which have combined annual capacity of 2.8 million tonnes, the company told Fastmarkets on Friday March 29.The move is aimed at strengthening the steelmaker's position in the billet export market and enabling ArcelorMittal...Read More

CIS billet prices started to decline in the last week of March, with the market under pressure from lower customers' bids, falling scrap prices in Turkey, and growing competition from Turkish billet suppliers because of the lira weakening against the US dollar.Indications of offers were coming within the range of $450-460 per tonne fob Black Sea, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 29. A Ukraine-bas...Read More

Export prices for steel slab products of Brazilian origin remained unchanged in the week ended Friday March 29, on a flat steel market in the United States and weak demand in Europe.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of Brazilian slab export prices was $510-550 per tonne fob on Friday, stable week-on-week.Bookings were reported from Brazil to the US market at prices of at least $540 per tonne fob, sou...Read More

Indian domestic secondary steel billet prices have fallen by about 100 rupees ($1) per tonne this week because there have been fewer inquiries and minimal buying by makers of finished products such as rebar mills, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 29.Indian domestic secondary billet prices were assessed by Fastmarkets at 31,200-31,400 rupees ($450-453) per tonne ex-mill on Friday, down by 100 rupe...Read More

More than three years after two treasure hunters claimed to have found a Nazi train laden with gold and gems in the Polish city of Walbrzych, one of the men looking for it has unearthed another kind of treasure: two dozen priceless Renaissance portraits.Piotr Koper, who spent years hunting for the elusive train rumoured to be laden with gold and gems, has found two dozen priceless Renaissance p...Read More

Indian importers have rejected the latest offer prices for imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC), citing falling prices for the commodity in the domestic market, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 29.Indian HRC import prices were assessed by Fastmarkets at $575-580 per tonne cfr Indian ports on March 29, compared with last week's assessment of $560-565 per tonne cfr, an increase of $15 per tonne.The lat...Read More

Shares in Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) jumped more than 8% on Friday after the miner announced it had dug up a 425.1 carat, D-colour, Type II gem quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.The discovery comes less than a month after Petra found a 100.83 carat gem-quality white diamond at the same mine, source of the world's biggest-ever diamond, which was unearthed in 1905.Earlier in...Read More

The South American flat steel import market remained uneventful during the past week, as participants in Brazil, the largest country in the region, kept away from spot deals, and prices from China, the most active seller, were still significantly higher than those locally.Fastmarkets' assessment for hot-rolled coil prices in South America was at $565-575 per tonne cfr on March 29, the same le...Read More

The Accredited Gemologists Association announced the presenters of its AGA Las Vegas Conference that will take place on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the Westin Las Vegas.     A regular at AGA conferences, GIA's Shane McClure will be talking about "Detecting Heat Treatment Levels in Corundum." McClure, a recipient of the Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology (2007), will tel...Read More

Firestone Diamonds announced its interim results of its Liqhobong mine for the six months ended 31 December 2018. The company recovered 465, 680 carats, among which was the mine's largest diamond found to date, a 326-carat light yellow makeable stone.  The aerage value per carat realized was $71, somewhat lower than in the parallel period in 2018. The lower price per carat is the result...Read More

London-listed Petra Diamonds has recovered a 425.10 ct D-colour Type II gem-quality diamond at its Cullinan mine, in South Africa."The recovery further demonstrates the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody, as well as the ability of the mine's plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds," the company said in a statement on Friday.AdvertisementIt expects the...Read More

In an interview with Mining Review Africa.  Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, reiterated the company's focus on its African portfolio.   "Mining in Africa is at the core of our business, just as it always has been, and just as it will be in future. While Venetia is currently our only mine in South Africa, it is one of the world's only Tier 1 assets. With our US$2 billion investment t...Read More