Seaborne iron ore prices went up on Tuesday June 16 following a rise in the futures market due to a weekly decrease in shipments from Australia and Brazil, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $104.85 per tonne, up $1.41 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $107.80 per tonne, up $1.68 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:...Read More

Markets were stronger across the board this morning, Tuesday June 16, reversing the weakness seen at the end of last week and during early trading on Monday.The Federal Reserve's action to extend buying to a wider base of corporate debt suggests the central bank will "do whatever it takes" to support market sentiment, and indeed markets, if it can. Base metals prices on both the London Metal Excha...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Short-term upside targets achievedLME aluminium's price recovery to $1,600 per tonne has been driven by macro forces acting on all metals, and amplified for aluminium by technical factors after prices became so oversold at the double-bottom lows in April and May. With a 4-million-tonne supply surplus this year, al...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Consolidation needed after technical gainsDespite structural oversupply, the London Metal Exchange aluminium price has enjoyed a technical rebound since the mid-May lows, which was in line with our short-term forecasts. But technical indicators now look overbought and the price must consolidate its recent gai...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Early signs of post-lockdown demand recoveryWith major economies outside China reopening after the easing of their Covid-19-related restrictions on movement and industrial activity, last week's jump in the number of cancelled aluminium warrants on the London Metal Exchange may be an early sign that the post-lockdo...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR?On the back of US steelmakers' $50- to $60-per-ton price hikes in late April, domestic hot-rolled coil prices improved to a monthly average of $493 per ton in May, up from $488 per ton in April. In contrast, both cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized sheet p...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.As we anticipated, rebar prices in Eastern China (ex-warehouse basis) rose in May, coming within 0.6% of our forecast. Strong demand at home meant that Chinese producers were largely absent from the export market, maintaining their offers near $450 per tonne, while import prices into Singapore were set near $400 per tonne cf...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.US demand shrinksDemand projections call for a continued retreat in US electric-resistance welded (ERW) line pipe and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) consumption as drill rigs and the number of wells drilled per rig are cut. Project demand in the large-diameter line pipe market is also shrinking with deferred or canceled pro...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.A couple of months into the global Covid-19 pandemic, the sell-off in steel markets appears to be abating.In parts of Asia, where the outbreak first occurred, steel prices - including those for coated steels - have rebounded since late April. The same is true of the US market as well. As we detail in our Americas analysis thi...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices have shot up as market participants have judged the supply risks from Covid-19 higher at this point in time when there is already a tight seaborne market. Despite the efforts to ramp up, Vale is struggling to catch up with its pre-dam disaster export volumes and its slow recovery has only been hit further by...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron oreSentiment in the iron ore market continues to be dominated by concerns about supply disruptions in Brazil. Prices spiked above $100 per tonne after reports that there had been a recent surge of Covid-19 cases at Vale's three mines in Itabira. A...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferrous scrap consumption rates of Chinese integrated mills appear to have declined this year on a per-tonne basis. This year has seen the ratio of pig iron to steel output tighten, leaving increasingly less room for scrap consumption. Over the first four months of 2020, the pig iron-to-steel ratio has been above the pr...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Lockdowns and restrictions of movement in several cities in Brazil have increased worries about the potential impact on iron ore export volumes. The situation has already had an impact on the market sentiment. These concerns, combined with strong demand from China, have boosted iron ore prices. The fall in shipments from Bra...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto has no plans to purchase Dominion Diamond Mines' 40% share in the Diavik site, the Australian company said in a court filing.The miner, which already owns 60% of Diavik and manages the site through subsidiary Diavik Diamond Mines (DDMI), also has no interest in buying Dominion's Ekati mine, it noted."DDMI does not seek to interfere with or participate in the Ekati market...Read More

RAPAPORT... Around eight diamond-cutting businesses in Surat have closed parts of their factories after a coronavirus outbreak.Authorities ordered the shutdowns after 20 to 23 workers tested positive for the virus, Colin Shah, chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), told Rapaport News Monday. Several staff members have entered a 14-day quarantine as a result.The...Read More

Companies that can serve up accessible, relatable products via digital media will have the best chance of tapping into this demographic. RAPAPORT... Despite all the nights of lost sleep over whether millennials will still want to buy diamond jewelry, it turns out this group is not so dissimilar to previous generations. Generation Z, though - now aging into relevance - is a different beas...Read More

Swedish stainless steel producer Sandvik is to cut 429 jobs from its Sandvik Materials Technology division later this year because of the negative impact on business of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Today, Sandvik gave notice of layoffs in Sweden for 429 positions within its Sandvik Materials Technology business area," the company announced on Tuesday June 16.The layoffs will occur at Sandvik'...Read More

(IDEX Online) - GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has launched an automated system that can distinguish lab-grown melee from natural stones.It's addressing concerns that simulants, laboratory-grown and HPHT treated natural diamonds, are deliberately being mixed in to parcels of natural diamonds.The GIA Melee Analysis Service sorts the screened diamonds by color range. Clients can also sp...Read More