Tata Steel aims to produce 32 million tonnes per year of crude steel at its Indian operations by 2025, the company said.The 2025 capacity target in India would constitute the entirety of the steelmakers' global crude capacity following the planned divestment of operations in Asia and a planned joint venture of European flat steel operations with Germany's ThyssenKrupp.Of the Indian steelmaker's cu...Read More
Billet producers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) reduced their prices in the week ended Friday April 26 to attract buyers, and this affected the markets in most regions.But producers in other regions, such as Turkey, were not able to follow this tactic due to the strong prices in their regions for scrap raw materials.For example, Fastmarkets' daily ferrous scrap index for Norther...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 26 that are worth another look.The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is doomed unless President Donald Trump's administration removes Section 232 tariffs - and the threat of quotas - from steel and aluminium imported from the United States' neighbors, two trade experts said.Warrant traders are reporting an uptic...Read More
Two months ago Gold Miners ETF GDX created its first bearish reversal pattern (bearish wick) while testing falling resistance. A couple of weeks later it created another bearish reversal pattern (Bearish wick) and then selling pressure took over and GDX fell 10% quickly.The decline of late now has GDX testing rising support, where GDX created a bullish reversal pattern (Bullish wick) to close out...Read More
Following the gender session held this at this year's PDAC, where gender balance in the industry and the #MeTooMining initiative were discussed, the Responsible Mining Foundation issued a summary report related to the topic.The summary is based on a chapter of RMF's 2018 Responsible Mining Index and it presents an assessment on the performance of 30 of the most important mining companies in the wo...Read More
The Argentinian Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs issued a report this week stating that it expects mining industry investments to reach $29 billion and employ about 80,000 people in 2019.According to the group, the mining sector is experiencing continued growth and has become the sixth most important sector when it comes to exports."At the Chamber we work day in and day out to create synergies with...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 26 that are worth another look.The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is doomed unless President Donald Trump's administration removes Section 232 tariffs - and the threat of quotas - from steel and aluminium imported from the United States' neighbors, two trade experts said.Warrant traders are reporting an uptic...Read More
RAPAPORT... Belgium saw a decline in its imports and exports of rough diamondsin the first quarter, as mining companies' sales dropped.Shipments into thecountry slid 33% to $2.09 billion for the period, reflecting a 38% slump inrough sales at Alrosa, for which Belgium is the biggest market. De Beers'revenues also fell 19% at its first two sales cycles of 2019, which tookplace during the quart...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) has unveiled theMaendeleo Diamond Standards (MDS), a program that helps artisanal miners receive certification showing their diamonds are conflict-free. The system, named after the Swahili word for development,was created together with various stakeholders. Those include government entities,local civil-society organizations, and artisanal and sm...Read More
The opaque diamond trade may be ripe for disruption.Lucara Diamond, which recently found the second-largest diamond in history in Botswana, is taking on industry giants such as De Beers and Alrosa PJSC with an online platform to replace the current physical auctions.The service allows Lucara to match buyers' requirements, not only saving jewelers the trouble of traveling to Botswana but also endin...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers is broadening a pilot project aimed at creating a secure and transparent route to market for artisanally mined diamonds with ethical sourcing. The miner introduced GemFair in April 2018 in Sierra Leone, whereit worked with 16 mine sites to improve ethical standards and workingconditions for miners, while enabling them to sell roughthrough De Beers' main distribution channel....Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' sales volume fell 15% to 7.5 million carats in thefirst quarter, as overall demand for lower-value rough goods remained soft.Production for the three months ending March 31 dropped 8%to 7.9 million carats due to lower output from the company's South Africanoperations. Total carat recovery in the country plunged 65% to 382,000, with thecompany transitioning its Venetia project...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has recovered the largest diamond unearthed in Botswana. The 1,758-carat stone, from the Karowe mine, has been characterized as near-gem, with its quality varying throughout the diamond, Lucara said last week. Portions of it arehigh-quality white gem, the miner explained. The company extracted the stone in an unbroken state using technology that it commissioned in...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has updated its Code of Practices (COP) to include silver jewelry and color gemstones, significantly expanding the reach of the standards organization.The code, which defines due-diligence and social-responsibility requirements for the industry, also outlines new requirements for the detection of laboratory-grown diamonds, the group announce...Read More
Lucara Diamond Corp. mined a 1,758 carat diamond) at its Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana. One of the largest diamonds in recorded history, the largest diamond recovered in Botswana, and the largest diamond to be mined at Karowe to date, the unbroken 1,758 carat stone was recovered through Lucara's XRT circuit. Weighing close to 352 grams and measuring 83mm x 62mm x 46mm, the diamo...Read More
Alrosa, the world's leading producer of diamonds, told Reuters that the company expects a drop in its sales in 2019 due to weaker demand for polished diamonds from China. "We will not reach last year's sales numbers," Evgeniy Agureev, director of sales for Alrosa, said. In 2018, sales rose 6 percent from the previous year to $4.5 billion but the trend has changed, he said. Aguree...Read More
Women's Wear Daily (WWD), the influential online fashion business, trend and info hub, said that data from Coresight Research had tallied store closures of more than 8,000 in 2017 in the US. In 2018, there were more than 5,500 units that shuttered. And at current levels, store closures this year will exceed last year's numbers, WDD reported. WWD quoted a report from David Bassuk and Joel...Read More
Christie's is to auction the "Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence" collection in New York, June 19th. Speaking about this collection, Rahul Kadakia, Christie's International Head of Jewellery, said that the collection was made up of royal jewels and jeweled objects that date back nearly 500 years to the early part of the Mughal dynasty, which ruled in India from 1526 to 1857. The collect...Read More
The Angolan government has forcefully expelled more than 40,000 foreign citizens, arguing they were illegally dwelling in Angola. The foreigners were deported from the country since last January to date, under the ongoing Operation Transparency. At a press briefing on Thursday in Saurimo City, eastern Lunda Sul Province, given by the spokesman of Operation Transparency, Antonio Bernardo, Angola�...Read More
Zimbabwe's Sunday Times reported that the Zim government will, in the next few weeks, announce at least two more investors that are expected to deploy huge foreign capital in the country's platinum sector as scores of local and foreign investors fall in love with the government's "Zimbabwe is Open for Business" mantra. The platinum sector is one of the few sectors in the economy that is...Read More