RAPAPORT... Polished-diamond imports to the US grew in September,according to government data.Shipments into the country increased 10% year on year to$1.95 billion, the third consecutive monthly rise, even as import volume dropped19% to 902,000 carats, figures showed. The average price jumped 35% to $2,157per carat. Polished exports slid 3% to $1.66 billion, while netpolished imports - repres...Read More
RAPAPORT... Birks Group's sales grew in the six months to September 29as the retailer opened its renovated flagship store in Montreal, Canada.Sales rose 6% to CAD 68.7 million ($51.9 million) in thefiscal first half at the jeweler's continuing operations, which exclude theMayors division it sold to Aurum Holdings in August 2017. Comparable-storesales - which further eliminate branch openings such...Read More
News flow out of the diamond industry in 2018 has been dominated by the progression of lab-created diamond production, distribution and pricing dynamics. Numerous new players have entered the space, production capabilities have improved and supply has been scaled. This year alone, the price differential of a generic 1-carat lab-created diamond has fallen by almost 50% relative to the price a compa...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Despite an increase in sales and profit in the first half of this year, Hong Kong's Tse Sui Luen Jewellery fears the impact of the US-China trade war on business. There has been rising retail sentiment in Hong Kong since September last year boosted by higher numbers of mainland tourists and growing sales to local customers, said Chairwoman Annie Yau. "However, t...Read More
Chile's state development agency Corfo plans to file an arbitration suit against US lithium miner Albemarle in two weeks, claiming the world's No.1 producer of the white commodity has failed to adhere to the terms of a contract dating back to 2016.Such document says Albemarle must provide as much as 25% of its annual production at a discount (or "preferential price") to companies seeking to produc...Read More
CULLINAN, Gauteng (miningweekly.com) – A R200-million electrical infrastructure project has been impressively completed at the Cullinan diamond mine of the London-listed Petra Diamonds through the combined effort of four Zest WEG Group companies. The companies adopted an integrated solutions approach in providing multiple and diverse energy packages on surface and underground to power the c...Read More
Export prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to fall in the week ended Monday November 26 under pressure from price reductions in China, which led the trend in the global markets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin exports of HRC was $470-480 per tonne fob Black Sea on November 26. This was down by $10 per tonne week on week."Falling...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap for December deliveries at the beginning of this week, following the decrease in prices last week, sources said on Monday November 26.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo, comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $320 per tonne and 6,000 tonnes of shredded at $330 per tonne cfr late on November 23.After this trade, t...Read More
The global market for electric vehicle batteries in 2025 could be 10 times bigger than in 2018, according to a report by Swiss investment bank UBS published last week.This should help to increase lithium demand by as much as four times, to drive a 41% increase in nickel consumption, and to more than double the use of cobalt over the same period, the report added.These three metals are the ones mos...Read More
Copper prices on New York's Comex were little changed in morning trading on Monday November 26 amid scant trading activity and few market drivers being apparent ahead of a major trade meeting.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in the United States fell by 0.30 cents to $2.7635 per lb.Later this week, US President Donald Trump and Chin...Read More
Global aluminium billet premiums have been mostly stable over the past month although the Italian billet premium range widened, reflecting offers there for material with many different origins.Italian premium widens; Europe liquidity remains high The premium for 6063 series extrusion billet in northern Italy on a delivered duty-paid basis with 60-day payment terms widened to $510-550 per tonne on...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday November 26. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Monday November 26, consolidating against broad strength in the US dollar while low stocks and supply disruptions...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Monday November 26, consolidating against broad strength in the US dollar while low stocks and supply disruptions struggle to lift prices.The three-month zinc price was down almost 1%, dipping below $2,500 per tonne despite a sizable drawdown in LME stocks keeping total inventories at a 10-year low at 121,6...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday November 26*Copper -$175.39 (-1,220.52 yuan) Aluminium -$427.76 (-2,976.70 yuan) Zinc -$107.06 (-745.01 yuan) Nickel $487.82 (3,394.64 yuan) *Fastmarkets MB calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange stood out as the strongest performer among its peers with a gain of 1.2% this morning, Monday November 26. Three-month copper ($6,183 per tonne) and aluminium were up by 0.2%, while the rest were down by 0.3%.Volume has been average with 5,700 lots traded as at 7.30am London time. This morning's mixed performance by the LME three-month base me...Read More
Steel Dynamics Inc (SDI) plans to spend nearly $2 billion to build a new 3-million-ton electric-arc-furnace (EAF) flat-rolled steel mill in the US, its latest effort to tap into the southern part of the country as well as the Mexican flat-rolled steel market, the company said on Monday November 26.The facility is expected to have the capability to produce advanced high-strength steel products. It...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange stood out as the strongest performer among its peers with a gain of 1.2% this morning, Monday November 26. Three-month copper ($6,183 per tonne) and aluminium were up by 0.2%, while the rest were down by 0.3%. Volume has been average with 5,700 lots traded as at 7.30am London time. This morning’s mixed performance by the LME three-month b...Read More
Creditors of Brazilian steel producer and distributor A??o Cearense earlier this month approved a plan for the company's business recovery which included a restructuring of most of its debt.The company reached a deal with its creditors on November 9, in a meeting attended by 82% of its creditors, which between them held 98% of the company's debt.A??o Cearense filed for bankruptcy protection in May...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption was 1.72 million tonnes in October, up by 3.70% year-on-year from 1.66 million tonnes in the corresponding month in 2017, national steel association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Friday November 23.Demand for flat steel grew in an annual comparison, but long steel was down on the same basis. This confirmed that the recovery in the long products sector in the co...Read More
CIS long steel producers have reduced their rebar and wire rod offer prices for foreign customers because of the downturn in the global long steel markets, notably in China, Fastmarkets heard on Monday November 26.The domestic rebar price in Eastern China dropped to 3,750-3,780 yuan ($540-544) per tonne ex-works on November 26 from 4,650-4,690 yuan per tonne ex-works on November 1.Recent offers of...Read More