RAPAPORT... Customers will soon be able to pay in Bitcoin at eight BirksGroup stores in Canada, the retailer said. The jeweler claims to be the first luxury retailer in Canadato accept the cryptocurrency. The service will be available at the end ofNovember in select locations, including its recently opened GraffDiamonds and Patek Philippe boutiques in Vancouver, the company noted Tuesday. Th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lightbox, the De Beers Group laboratory-grown diamond jewelry company, kicked off Cyber Week with the opening of its first pop-up store at The Oculus, Westfield World Trade Center on Monday. Lightbox General Manager Steve Coe and Head of Marketing Sally Morrison were joined by models from the brand's advertising campaign for a lighting ceremony. For Cyber Week,...Read More
(IDEX Online) - MVI Marketing LLC (MVI)'s team recently completed a consumer research study asking wealthy, millennial age, Asian-American and Hispanic/Latino-American consumers about their shopping preferences and behaviors. The results, MVI says, are noteworthy for brand marketers. Certain brands consistently denote status, quality, prestige and affluence among Forward Facing Immigrant (...Read More
European buyers of hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil have been watching the market in expectation of a price reduction, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.Buyers have mostly been holding back from making purchases while hoping for a clearer market trend to emerge."Prices are under pressure, for sure," a Northern European source said. "Demand from [the] automotive [sector] is slowing d...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tiffany & Co.'s share price ended the day down almost 12% on Wednesday with analysts disappointed that it missed revenue and same store sales targets. Tiffany attributed the performance to lower demand from foreign tourists, particularly from China, who spent less in the U.S. and in Hong Kong. In the third quarter, worldwide net sales increased 4% to $1.0 bil...Read More
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
Turkish billet prices have continued to fall this week, amid sluggish demand and a downturn in Asian steel prices, sources said on Thursday November 29.Suppliers in the CIS region have already reduced their billet offers to Turkey to $460-465 per tonne cfr, but demand in the country was very weak...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday November 30.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange registered some gains on Thursday November 29 following a rise in crude oil futures but market sentiment remained uncertain, with commodities facing macroeconomic headwinds. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:Nors...Read More
Aluminium prices should trade downward going forward once China's demand expectations sour, Novelis' South American chief operating officer Francisco Pires told Fastmarkets on Tuesday November 27.In Brazil, ingot premiums are expected to continue following US Midwest levels, although there are very different dynamics applied to each market, according to Pires. Buyers are currently negotiating 2019...Read More
China's refined tin production is set to fall by 29% year on year in the fourth quarter, mostly due to a lack of concentrate from Myanmar, the International Tin Association (ITA) said in a note on Thursday November 29.Myanmar's tin concentrate shipments account for 40% of China's raw material feed. Stocks held in warehouses in China and at the ports in Myanmar have been depleted since August, the...Read More
The timeframe remains uncertain for a return to 100% capacity operations at the Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil, owner Norsk Hydro said at its Capital Markets Day in London on Thursday November 29.Alunorte has been running at 50% capacity since March, after a court in the state of Par?? halted operations of the refinery's DRS2 bauxite residue disposal unit for environmental reasons. A Brazilia...Read More
Aurubis has resumed production at its Hamburg and Pirdrop primary copper smelting plants after both were suspended for unscheduled boiler maintenance earlier this week, the company said on Thursday November 29. "Our plants in Hamburg and Pirdrop are back in operation already, we expect L? 1/4 nen to be back by the end of next week," a spokesperson said in an...Read More
Comex copper prices were under pressure on Thursday morning in the US, in the aftermath of US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's dovish comments made on Wednesday.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange reversed down 1.55 cents to $2.7980 per lb. Powell said interest rates were, "just below neutral levels" while speaking at the New...Read More
Xinfa Group's two aluminium smelters in the Chinese province of Shandong have been exempted from this year's winter production curtailments, according to a document seen by Fastmarkets MB. The two smelters, which are both located in Liaochen city, will be allowed to operate unimpeded during China's winter heating season which runs from November 15 until March 15 next year, a document released by t...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were being pushed and pulled by cross currents this morning, Thursday November 29. Nickel, lead and tin showed gains averaging 0.4%, while copper, aluminium and zinc were down by an average of 0.4%. Copper was off by 0.4% at $6,230 per tonne. Volume across the complex has been average with 5,189 lots traded as at 7.33am London time. Wedne...Read More
UK-based Altus Strategies (AIM: ALS, TSX-V: ALTS) announced the discovery of what the company calls "the Simret silver prospect" at its 100%-owned Daro project, located in the Tigray Regional State of northern Ethiopia.In a media statement, the project generator said that Simret showed silver grades that include 944 g/t Ag and 540 g/t Ag, which were taken from rock chip sampling of quartz veins. L...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in the EU have been under pressure from slow trading, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.Demand has been reduced by a combination of seasonal de-stocking activity and a general 'wait-and-see' attitude among buyers due to the lack of market clarity about further price trends.European buyers have also been reported to have sufficient stocks of...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have continued to decrease amid poor demand and a stronger lira, sources said on Thursday November 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY2,950-3,085 ($562-588) per tonne ex-works, including 18% VAT, compared with TRY3,080-3,220 per tonne of last week.A steel mill in the Izmir region was heard offering rebar to local.....Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 6 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 220,000 versus 224,000 last week. Actual was 234,000/ Consensus for October Personal Income was an increase of 0.4% versus a gain of 0.2% in September. Actual...Read More