While Olympic athletes in Tokyo are going for the gold, investors are going for anything that might provide positive real returns.In a yield-starved environment where bonds and cash are returning less than inflation, there are no guarantees. But there are certainly opportunities outside of fixed income instruments.Investors who try to sprint their way to success risk hurting themselves in the proc...Read More
Heavy rain in the upper and middle reaches of the Changjiang River has led to lower activity at construction sites, pushing down spot market rebar prices on Monday August 9.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,180-5,220 yuan ($800-806) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonneHeavy rain in certain parts of Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan, have had a serious impact...Read More
The United Kingdom Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended that anti-dumping duties on welded tube & pipe from Russia be revoked, but that measures against similar material from China and Belarus be extended, the TRA said on Monday August 9.The measures will be removed for products imported from Russia after January 30, 2021 - 30 days after the date the measure transitioned from the Europea...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 9 that are worth another look.On August 9, there was a blast at Novolipetsk Steel's (NLMK) oxygen plant in Lipetsk, Russia, but it will only have a minor impact on production, the company told Fastmarkets.The trade...Read More
The trade union representing workers at the Caserones copper mine in Chile will go on strike on Tuesday August 10 after failing to reach a deal through government-mediated negotiations with owner Minera Lumina Copper Chile.The company did not change its most recent offer during the extended talks, leading union members to officially vote to go on strike, the union said on Monday August 9.Workers a...Read More
The prices for low and high grades of seaborne manganese ore diverged further in the week ended Friday August 6, with extensive power restrictions across China continuing to disrupt operations at alloy smelters.Fastmarkets calculated its weekly index for manganese ore, 44% Mn, cif Tianjin, at $5.37 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday, up from $5.14 per dmtu previously."High-grade ore miners...Read More
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 9 that are worth another look.On August 9, there was a blast at Novolipetsk Steel's (NLMK) oxygen plant in Lipetsk, Russia, but it will only have a minor impact on production, the company told Fastmarkets.The trade...Read More
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
The price of nickel showed the biggest fall on the London Metal Exchange on Monday August 9, but selling extended across the base-metals complex, following a sharp turn in sentiment at the end of last week.Data pointing to further recovery in the United States' employment market continued to fuel speculation about when the US Federal Reserve bank will taper its asset purchases and start to raise i...Read More
China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) has announced an increase to the minimum margin for speculative trading of its most-active September coking coal contract to 20%, from 15%.The increase takes effect on Monday August 9, it said on Thursday August 5.This is the exchange's second such adjustment, having raised the minimum margin to 15% from 11% on August 2.The DCE is also adjusting the minimum...Read More
RAPAPORT... Revenue from the retail division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway surged to $5 billion in the second quarter as the US economy recovered.The division - which includes jewelry chains Borsheims, Helzberg Diamonds and Ben Bridge Jeweler - saw sales increase 48% compared to the same period of 2020, when stores were shuttered due to Covid-19, the company reported last week. Pretax ear...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company plans to begin processing the first ore from its newly acquired Merlin mine in Australia within the next 24 months.The company is currently working with the liquidators to complete administrative requirements and finalize the sale, after which it will begin work at the site, Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall told Rapaport News. The miner purchased the de...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora has increased its sales outlook for the current year following strong growth in the past quarter and a reduction in the number of stores it expects to close.Sales will rise by 16% to 18% year on year on an organic basis for 2021, the Danish jewelry retailer predicted Friday. That compares with a previous forecast of above 12%.The update came on the back of an 84% year-on-y...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Russian authorities are investigating allegations of widespread tax fraud at jewelry factories, after production increased sharply - but employee numbers in the sector fell.The governor of the Kostroma Province, home to 60 per cent of Russia's jewelry industry, is concerned that workers who returned after Covid lockdowns have not been registered, and tax is not being paid.Serg...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A painting that incorporates 500 polished diamonds has sold for $87,000 - almost 10 times its high estimate - at Phillips London.The US artist known as Genesis the Greykid, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, started using diamonds in his work when the pandemic struck.His abstract work, entitled Computer Love and described as acrylic, latex and diamond dust on canvas, went to an ano...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A jewelry company in Canada claims it's offering "price transparency" by allowing customers to choose how much they pay for an engagement ring. Lovelri says rival brands have profit margins of over 50 per cent. It offers consumers three prices on each ring - which will, it says, mean a profit for the company of C$50, C$100 or C$150.The Toronto-based retailer brands itself...Read More
Europe's biggest copper producer, Aurubis, is planning to offload part of its downstream business to focus on primary copper smelting and recycling, it said on Monday August 9.The Germany-based company will sell a portion of its flat-rolled copper product operations to Intek Group, which fully controls KME, a leading player in the European copper and copper alloy semifinished-product industry. Ope...Read More
The price of nickel showed the biggest fall on the London Metal Exchange on Monday August 9, but selling extended across the base-metals complex, following a sharp turn in sentiment at the end of last week.Data pointing to further recovery in the United States' employment market continued to fuel speculation about when the US Federal Reserve bank will taper its asset purchases and start to raise i...Read More