RAPAPORT... Diamond production at Rio Tinto dropped 10% year on year inthe first half of 2019, as the miner recovered lower-grade ore at its Argylemine in Australia. The company's share of production at the Argyle and Diavik mines came to 8.3million carats for the six months ending June 30, the company said Tuesday.Argyle yielded 6.1 million carats, a 13% decrease compared to the same periodlast y...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has temporarilyreduced grading fees for certain smaller diamonds after recording a drop in submissionsduring the recent industry slump. The organization is slashing prices of reports by 10% forpolished weighing from 0.30 to 0.49 carats until October 15, the GIA said in aletter to clients last week, seen by Rapaport News. "Right now, GIA...Read More
RAPAPORT... Belgium's rough-diamond trade fell in the first half to its lowest level since the financial crisis. Rough imports to the country declined 26% year on year to $4.36 billion during the six months ending June 30, according to recent data from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). The last time inbound shipments were below that level was when the trade was recovering fr...Read More
Earlier this week, a number of leading Indian diamond manufacturers sent an urgent letter to the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC), arguing that the "credibility of the gems and jewelry industry is going down in the eyes of the government and general public at large," requesting the GJPEC to do damage control. "It is well known fact that the industry is going through s...Read More
RAPAPORT...ABN Amro has scaled back its financing of rough-diamondpurchases, citing a lack of profitability in the manufacturing and tradingsectors.The Dutch bank, which mainly lends to rough dealers, will only offer credit without proof of onward sale if the buyer canmake money from the rough, its Antwerp branch said in a letter to clients Friday.It called on the trade to show restraint by purcha...Read More
Prices for imported and domestic rebar in the United Arab Emirates have increased over the past seven days, but billet import prices have decreased, sources said on Tuesday July 16.The reason behind the higher price for rebar was that local prices have been low in the UAE since late May but demand has now become stronger in the country.Domestic rebarThe domestic rebar market in the UAE has improve...Read More
Alrosa of Russia, the world's leading diamond producing nation, and state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), reached agreement to develop diamond deposits in Zimbabwe. The agreement was signed by ALROSA Deputy CEO Vladimir Marchenko and ZCDC Non-Executive Board Chairman Killian Ukama. Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov att...Read More
Stornoway Diamond reported that the average price per carat paid fell 9 percent during the second quarter. The company realized an average price per carat of $76, compared to $83 during the same period in 2018. On the other hand, the number of carats sold the Quebec diamond miner sold found buyers was 7 percent higher, reaching 460,832 carats. Stornoway President and CEO Patrick Godin said demand...Read More
Lucapa Diamond Company Limited, the diamond firm with mining interests in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho and Australia reported on its quarterly activities report for the period that ended 30 June 2019. It said that the arrival of a new mining vehicles at the f Lulo mine in Angola and a the accessing of higher-grade mining areas at the Mothae mine in Lesotho would make 2019 a successful and profitable...Read More
Reduced availability of materials for August shipments of hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil (HRC, CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was supporting the prices for the commodities, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 15.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $485-500 per tonne on July 15, up by $5 per tonne week on week.Ukraini...Read More
TSX-listed Tsodilo Resources has submitted a renewal application for prospecting licence 369/2014 to the Botswana Department of Mines (DoM) within the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security.The renewal application is for a two-year period and the area includes the company’s BK16 kimberlite project.AdvertisementThe centrepiece of the renewal application is the Pha...Read More
Sales of semi-finished steel products at Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), dropped by 8% year on year in the second quarter of 2019 to 1.52 million tonnes, the company said this week.Slab sales totaled 1.51 million tonnes in the April-June period, down by 14% compared with the second quarter of 2018.Of this figure 577,000 tonnes were sold to third parties, down by 8,7% ye...Read More
Export prices for China-origin cold-rolled coil were stable during the week ended Tuesday July 16 despite sluggish demand in the export markets because of environmental restrictions imposed on blast furnace production in the East Asian country, market sources said.The continued supply tightness in the iron ore market was also expected to provide additional support to steel prices, a trader in Tian...Read More
Quality emerges at Galan's blue-chip lithium addressSPONSOREDgalan lithiumThe company said in February challenging ground conditions required some "potentially significant" changes to the design and schedule of the $5.3 billion development.Read More
Brazilian miner Vale expected its second-quarter results to be affected by adjustments in provisions it made for compensation payments related to the disaster at a tailings dam in Brumadinho, in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais state.The adjustments will include a deposit of 400 million Reais ($107 million) in compensation for collective moral damages to be made on August 6.The company repo...Read More
Turkish steel producers remained quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets, awaiting some signs of recovery in the finished steel sector, sources said on Tuesday July 16.The last verified scrap deal was on July 9 when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo at $288 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).Since then, Turkish steel mills have stayed away from the deep-sea markets...Read More
Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto shipped 85.4 million tonnes of iron ore in the April-June quarter of 2019, but this volume was down by around 3% year on year, according to the company's second-quarter operations review published on Tuesday July 16.The lower shipments of 100% basis iron ore were due to disruptions to its operations when Western Australia was hit by Tropical Cyclone Veronica at the...Read More
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Strong Chinese industrial production data has...ACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the latest i...Read More
The Turkish domestic scrap markets remained mostly quiet last week due to the subdued finished steel markets and the seasonal summer slowdown, sources said on Tuesday July 16.Steel mills have kept their buy prices for auto bundle scrap flat, but ship scrap prices increased slightly due to expectations of a rebound in the price...Read More