Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More
The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More
A report made public today by Rapaport reveals that polished-diamond prices softened in January, with 1-carat stones falling by 0.4% last month and 1.8% compared to January 2018, while 3-carat gems fell by 1.8% last month and 5.9% compared to last year.Smaller diamonds saw a less steep decline in prices as 0.5-carat rocks fell by 0.3% in January 2019 and 0.1% when compared to last year, and 0.3-ca...Read More
RAPAPORT... Danish jeweler Pandora expects revenue to fall 3% to 7% this year, after weak results in 2018 prompted an overhaul of its brand and marketing activities. "We are taking immediate and forceful action to address thedisappointing aspects of our financial performance in 2018," Pandora chief operatingofficer Jeremy Schwartz said Tuesday. "We are confident that this company-widebusines...Read More
RAPAPORT... A reduced supply of vivid-yellow diamonds will drive a priceincrease this year, according to the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF). "In the last three years we witnessed a substantial [quantity]of vivid yellows coming to market, mainly from the Misery Pipe at [DominionDiamond Mines'] Ekati mine in Canada," Jim Pounds, FCRF advisory board member and executive vice president of...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have risen over the past week but demand has remained soft, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 5.Demand was subdued because stock levels in the UAE were already high and buyers wanted to see which direction prices would move after the Lunar New Year holiday in China, they added.UAEChina-origin HRC was on offer to the U...Read More
BlueRock Diamonds (LON:BRD) said Tuesday it had recovered an "exceptional" 8.97-carat stone at its Kareevlei mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa.It is the second largest stone mined from Kareevlei and the third valued at more than $50,000. The other two were a 7.76 carat stone sold for $10,070 per carat in 2017 and a 10.58 carat diamond sold for $7,047/carat in 2018.The 8.97 carat stone...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Following five years of talks and intensive work by the Korea Diamond Exchange (KDE), the South Korean government in December abolished a 26% Individual Consumption Tax on imported polished diamonds that dates back to 1976, said bourse Chairman Nam Chang-Soo. "Now, South Korean diamond importers will have a simplified tax regime: a 5% import tax and 10% Value Added Tax, sai...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, February 5, 2019, Las Vegas ... Polished-diamond prices softened in January as US restocking proved slower than expected after the holiday season, and as Far East buyers took vacation ahead of the Chinese New Year. Dealers were cautious due to weak demand, tight profitability and a significant reduction in bank credit.The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI?,,?) for 1-carat dia...Read More
RAPAPORT... A New York district court has granted jewelerDavid Yurman protection against websites selling counterfeitmerchandise under its brand. Judge Paul Oetken issued a permanent injunction against 31unnamed websites, preventing them from distributing, advertising or selling anyfake David Yurman products, the jeweler said last week. He also awarded thejeweler nearly $1.6 million in statut...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Boaz Moldawsky, who has served as the Acting Chairman of the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) for the past year, has been elected by IDI's Board of Directors as its Chairman for a three-year term. Moldawsky is a second-generation diamantaire whose family were among the founders of the Israeli diamond industry. He has been active in public service in the industry for many years...Read More
Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds on Monday reported that it had treated 1.9-million tonnes of ore in the six months to December 31, in line with the company’s full-year guidance of between 3.6-million tonnes and 3.9-million tonnes treated.In a quarterly operations update for its Liqhobong diamond mine, in Lesotho, Firestone noted that 884 252 t of ore were treated in the quarter, lower tha...Read More
The European bismuth price continued its uptrend in the latest pricing session, boosted by shipment delays that are affecting the delivery of material from China's Hunan Jinwang Bismuth, one of the biggest suppliers in the world. Fastmarkets assessed the European bismuth price at $3.70-4.20 per lb on Friday February 1, slightly higher than in the midweek assessment when the metal stood a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 5 that are worth another look.Honda Motor Co Ltd aims to electrify around two-thirds of the vehicles it produces by 2030, Honda managing officer Noriya Kaihara said at the 25th Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.Japan's Panasonic is considering investing in the upstream part of the battery raw materials indus...Read More
Honda Motor Co Ltd aims to electrify around two-thirds of the vehicles it produces by 2030, an executive at the Japanese automaker said.The goal is part of the company's electrification strategy, with around half of production to be comprised of hybrid electric vehicles (EVs), Honda managing officer Noriya Kaihara said.Zero-emissions vehicles, either through battery electric vehicles or fuel...Read More
Japan's Panasonic is considering investing in the upstream part of the battery raw materials industry in order to have better oversight of quality, pricing and supply chain responsibility, a company executive said.The move has been led by the company's growing consumption of raw materials for batteries due to rapid growth in demand for electric vehicles (EVs), Kazunori Tanaka, general manager of t...Read More
Downstream producer Novelis said in its fiscal-year 2019 third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday February 5 that strong demand for aluminium products helped boost sales.Novelis reported sales of $3 billion in the third quarter, up 3% year on year from $2.9 billion. Shipments of flat-rolled products increased 1% to 800,000 tonnes.The automotive and beverage packaging industries helped drive the in...Read More
The continuing financial and operational issues at South African power utility Eskom pose the single biggest risk to the country's economy, according to the chief operating officer of mining company South32.Eskom, which supplies South Africa's mining sector with electricity that is largely generated by burning coal, needs a business model which will retain key industrial customers that are already...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its nickel sulfate min 21%, max: 22.5%; cobalt 10ppm max, China ex-works, yuan/tonne price, which was published incorrectly on February 1.The Fastmarkets MB nickel sulfate min 21%, max: 22.5%; cobalt 10ppm max, China ex-works, yuan/tonne price was published on February 1 instead of its scheduled publication date on February 5. This has now been corrected and the price has...Read More
Base metals trading fund Commodities World Capital has brought in Kevin Connors as its new chief executive officer, it said on Tuesday February 5. He will take on the role to allow founder and co-chief...Read More
European long steel buyers are facing higher offers from suppliers which hope that prices will increase in the coming weeks, now that the European Commission (EC) has launched its new steel import quotas.The EC imposed import quotas last year as part of its provisional measures in a trade safeguard case involving steel product imports. That regime was launched in July 2018, but it has now been rep...Read More
Machine Learning drives exciting new feature for PitramSPONSOREDmicromineGolden Mile positioned for successSPONSOREDgolden mile resourcesCardinal advances at pace in Ghana SPONSOREDcardinal resourcesRevised Leonora PFS is next for KinSPONSOREDkin miningThe global move away from carbon-based energy generation to renewable energy generation via wind turbines, solar and even wave energy, together wit...Read More