The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday December 21.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday December 20, with a continued retreat in the United States dollar index failing to spur upward price action amid broadly moderate volumes. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:It...Read More
Positive sentiment in final sales-week beforeChristmas. Fashion jewelry for self-empowered women driving growth. Polishedtrading quiet as US and Belgium firms close for holidays. Dealers hoping strongUS shopping will stimulate wholesale demand in the first quarter. Chinesejewelers preparing for Feb. 5 Lunar New Year. Indian manufacturers cautious, withfactories below capacity after India's Nov. ro...Read More
Cautious sentiment amid rumors of furtherbankruptcies and job cuts among manufacturers. Polished production well belowcapacity, with some small- and medium-size factories still closed since Diwali.Stable rough demand from sightholders at last week's De Beers sight. Shortage ofbetter-quality SIs expected, as new production will only be available in mid-firstquarter. Steady consumer interest during...Read More
Precious gemstones miner Gemfields (JSE: GML) has announced that the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has cleared its Kagem emerald mine following a probe into alleged tax evasion.During an unannounced visit in August, the ZRA seized documents and files including those allegedly used to evade payment of Value Added Tax (VAT), income tax, with-holding tax and other taxes.Probe was part of a wider eff...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports grew last month at their fastest ratefor two years amid an upturn in orders from the US and increased shipments ofhigh-end timepieces. Total exports rose 3.9% year on year to CHF 2.06 billion($2.09 billion) for the month, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industryreported Thursday. "The strongest increase was in the US, the second-mostimportant market, ag...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company brought in $1.5 million at a sale of goods from its Mothae mine, with individual stones fetching up to $15,000 per carat.The Australia-based miner sold 4,000 carats of rough diamonds it recovered during initial bulk sampling at its assetin Lesotho, which began commercial production earlier this month, it said Thursday.Last week, Lucapa recovered a 78-carat w...Read More
It's been nine months since the United States announced Section 232 tariffs, and over six months since a 10% tax was applied to imports of aluminium from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. There's been a huge debate over how successful the tariffs - imposed on the grounds of national security and also applied at a 25% rate to steel - have been. Much depends on who you talk to, and what their s...Read More
RAPAPORT... The second-largest diamond in history was probably twice as big before it broke into pieces, researchers at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) have claimed.Similarities between the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, the 812-carat Constellation and three other stones suggest they were all one large piece of rough weighing at least 2,774 carats beforevolcanic eruptions or mining process...Read More
RAPAPORT... Whether it's a blessing or curse, we're certainly living in interesting times, and 2018 delivered a host of standout developments that will have a lasting impact on the diamond industry. In the latest Rapaport Diamond Podcast, the editorial team looks back at some of the key themes that shaped the year in our coverage on Diamonds.net. What were the biggest stories of the year...Read More
Expectations of further recovery in Brazilian aluminium demand are prompting investments that will increase production capacity in the country, while companies try to strengthen competition with imports.Novelis and Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) are expanding at their sites in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo on estimates that consumption from packaging, transportation and constructio...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) is to join the MyKYCBank platform of India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of DMCC, and Chairman of DDE, and Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC, signed the agreement which enables DMCC members trading in diamonds, gold and precious stones to join the MyKYCBank platform. DM...Read More
The Comex copper price failed to maintain momentum after the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates and signalled a hawkish monetary policy strategy for 2019.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 2.00 cents to $2.69 per lb."Both the Fed's policy statement and Jay Powell's news conference came across as more hawkish than...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa Diamond Company Limited has announced the finalization of S$7 million in development funding from the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) for its Mothae kimberlite diamond mine in Lesotho. The funding from the IDC, which is one of the largest development financiers in southern Africa, followed the execution of the loan and ancillary agreements and...Read More
RAPAPORT... Global jewelry sales increased 4% in the third quarter, drivenby growth in North America, according to market research by Alrosa. Sales in North America rose 4% despite concerns over theUS-China trade war, the Russian miner said Wednesday. Revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, including India andsoutheast Asia, rose 3% amid a continued expansion of national retailers acrossmainland...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered two large diamonds within a 24-hour period at its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, the company said Wednesday. The high-quality stones are white, type IIa diamonds weighing 101 carats and 71 carats, it added. The 101-carat stone is the 14th diamond over 100 carats the miner has found this year, a record for the company. Last year, Gem Diamonds unearthed eight...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has initiated a process of market feedback following the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) intention to remove sanctions against UC Rusal and En+ Group, issuing both a member note and press statement on Wednesday December 19. In accordance with OFAC's decision to notify Congress of its plans to terminate sanctions - inclusive of...Read More
Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Monday December 24. After that, because of public holidays, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Thursday January 3, 2019.Read More
RAPAPORT... Belgium's polished trade dropped in November, according todata from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. Exports fell 11% amid a loweraverage price, with volumes down 1%. Rough shipments also declined. However,polished trading is up for the year to date, with rough mostly flat. Millions unless stated otherwiseRead More
Weak demand for finished long steel products in both the domestic and the export markets together with bearish sentiment for import scrap forced Turkish consumers to seek lower import billet prices. Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for billet imports into Turkey was at $420-440 per tonne cfr on Thursday December 20, down from last week's range of $435-445 per tonne cfr. Market partici...Read More
RAPAPORT... US e-commerce sales grew 19% in the first five weeks of theholiday season, making it the biggest online-shopping period of all time,according to Adobe Analytics. Revenues came to $80.3 billion between November 1 andDecember 6, compared with $67.7 billion a year ago, thedata provider told Rapaport News Thursday. Sales by smartphone grew 55% to $23.7 billion. Shopping onmobile devices a...Read More