RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds will keep its Liqhobong mine closed as it works with its bondholders to restructure its debt and continues to test market prices for its rough.The miner has reached an agreement with Absa, one of its lenders, to allow it to defer repayment of its debt until September 2021, Firestone said Tuesday. The company is still in discussions with other bondholders about a long...Read More

The London Metal Exchange tin price continued its uptrend by setting a new 2021 high and a historic $1,510-per-tonne backwardation on its benchmark spread, while the rest of the base metals complex closed on a mixed tone on Tuesday February 2. Tin's three-month price kept up its unabated rise on Tuesday despite a rising dollar, with the fundamentals for the metal superseding macroeconomic concerns...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds emerged from 2020 as one of the few miners to record revenue growth, benefiting from a sharp recovery in prices and sales during the second half.Sales rose 4% to $189.2 million for the year, the company reported Tuesday in a trading update. The average price jumped 17% to $1,908 per carat, outweighing an 11% decline in sales volume to 99,172 carats.Gem Diamonds had fe...Read More

Year-on-year diamond prices for January 2021 bounced 1.5 per cent, breaking through the x-axis for the first time since April 2019. They'd been hovering just below zero since October 2020 and last month came exactly in line with prices for the previous year. They were badly hit by the pandemic in March and April, when they were 4.8 per cent down, but have rising in fits and starts ever since....Read More

RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, February 2, 2021, Las Vegas... The diamond trade began the year with optimism following a relatively successful holiday season. Polished-diamond suppliers anticipated steady inventory replacement in the first quarter. December and January therefore saw strong rough buying. The subsequent increase in polished inventory levels led prices to soften in key categories.The RapNet...Read More

Chilean copper output plummeted in December amid lower activity at Codelco, Escondida and other major mines, data from the country's copper commission, Cochilco, showed on Tuesday February 2.Production hit 499,700 tonnes in December, down by 9.4% year on year from 551,500 tonnes. Additionally, full-year output reached 5.73 million tonnes in 2020, a 1% decrease from 5.79 million tonnes in 2019.Lowe...Read More

Aluminium producer Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) will supply BMW Group with its CelestiAL aluminium, the first aluminium brand made using solar power, it said on Tuesday February 2. EGA will supply 43,000 tonnes per year of CelestiAL aluminium to BMW Group. EGA has supplied metal to BMW Group since 2013 for use in the German carmaker's engines and other parts. EGA's CelestiAL metal will cover al...Read More

Slovakian steelmaker US Steel Kosice restarted operations at its blast furnace (BF) No3 in January this year, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 2."We adjusted our production and the range of our products to the current situation and demand from our customers. We do not make any forecasts," US Steel Kosice's spokesman said.The plant is now running with all three BFs in operation. The...Read More

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal is planning to restart blast furnace (BF) B at its Ghent plant in Belgium by the middle of February this year, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 2.The unit has been idled for maintenance since September 2020.BF B has capacity for 2.30 million tonnes per year of pig iron, according to market sources. The plant is equipped with two BFs with total capacity for...Read More

Demand for flat steel imports in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia was still weak in the week to Tuesday February 2 because buyers expect prices to decrease more and are holding back on placing orders, sources said. Most market participants said they believe prices will keep falling until after the Chinese New Year holiday (February 11-17), and prices from China after the break will...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesReporting monthly production figures, state copper agency Cochilco said Codelco increased its production 1.2% to 1.727Mt with gains at its Chuiquicamata, Salvador and Andina divisions. Collahuasi posted an 11.3% gain to 629,100t, while Antofagasta Minerals' El Tesoro increased output 15% to 93,300t.A number of copper operations experienc...Read More

Buyers of steel rebar and billet market in the United Arab Emirates expected prices to decrease this week, with trading activity being very low, although producers kept their prices unchanged, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 2.Importers of billet and rebar also preferred to wait, because import prices usually follow price changes in domestic rebar, sources added.Domestic rebarThe coun...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesUnderground development was tracking 11.6km ahead of plan, the miner said.Read More

Export prices for billet originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued moving down on Tuesday February 2, with mills making concessions to win sales.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was calculated at $541 per tonne on Tuesday, down from $546 per tonne on Monday.This week, a 30,000-tonne cargo from Ukraine was sold to Qatar at $580 per...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved down day on day on Tuesday February 2, despite attempts by European mills to impose price rises, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?709.00 ($857.51) per tonne on Tuesday, down by ?,?4.33 per tonne from ?,?713.33 per tonne on February 1.The index...Read More

China's rebar market was inactive on Tuesday February 2 due to demand being low amid construction suspensions, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,280-4,300 yuan ($662-666) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said the spot market has been inactive with most construction sites suspending work after many workers have gone back to hometow...Read More

China's hot-rolled prices continued to fall on Tuesday February 2 amid thin trading, with sources pointing to a weakening market for steelmaking raw materials as having a dampening effect on sentiment.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,400-4,430 yuan ($681-686) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneSpot prices weakened amid losses in the futures market, sources said.A Tianjin-based trader said market...Read More

Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, albeit with a downside bias, during morning trading on Tuesday February 2, while silver was consolidating below highs but above its recent trading range.Silver prices spiked up to around the $30-per-oz level on Monday, before ending the day around $28.50 per oz – the metal is now looking for directi...Read More

Turkish steelmakers continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchases amid falling prices, sources said on Tuesday February 2.The most recent deals were heard nearly a week ago, late on Wednesday January 27, when two US cargoes were booked.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a cargo from the United States, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $416 per tonne, shredded at $421 per tonne and bon...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices tumbled on Tuesday February 2 amid poor steel demand which weighed further on market sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $149.80 per tonne, down $7.27 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $150.37 per tonne, down $7.40 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $139.28 per tonne, down $4.67 per t...Read More