RAPAPORT... Lightbox, De Beers' lab-grown diamond brand, will begin selling loose stones in an effort to make its products more customizable.The new offering enables consumers to buy individual lab-grown diamonds at the company's standard price of $800 per carat, Lightbox said Tuesday. Initially, it will focus on round brilliant and princess cuts, with other shapes set to debut in early 2022....Read More

RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports beat pre-pandemic levels in September amid a continued recovery and strong demand in the US and China.Global shipments rose 3.1% compared to the same month of 2019, reaching CHF 1.88 billion ($2.05 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Tuesday. Exports climbed 17% year on year, reflecting a favorable comparison with the Covid-19 downturn in Septe...Read More

Steel rebar and billet buyers in the United Arab Emirates were waiting for new local rebar prices to be announced in the week ended Tuesday October 19; they expect a price increase of around $30 per tonne, sources told Fastmarkets.Rebar producers normally announce new prices fortnightly in the UAE, but they have not made any changes since September 29.Domestic rebarRebar producers in the UAE sold...Read More

RAPAPORT... A set of jewels belonging to the Romanov family, smuggled out of Russia during the 1917 revolution, will go under the hammer at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva.The collection includes an oval-shaped, 26.80-carat Ceylon sapphire and diamond brooch and matching ear clips weighing 6.69 and 9.63 carats. The jewels, which together carry a high estimate of $500,000, will star at the November 1...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A British jeweler breached advertising codes by failing to distinguish between lab grown diamonds and non-diamond simulants.Online retailer Ethica Diamonds, based in Cornwall, south-west England, sold lab growns from Diamond Foundry, together with an artificial, non-diamond product under the same banner. But it did make it sufficiently clear to customers which they were beingThe Ad...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Angola is to host its first International Diamond Conference next month, in a bid to attract foreign interest and investment.The country is ranked sixth in the world for diamond production, but 60 per cent of its diamond-rich territory remains unexplored.It has only recently offered its stocks beyond eight "preferential customers" and is about to open its own bourse.The conference...Read More

RAPAPORT... Heading into the holiday season, the Rapaport Diamond Podcast assesses the prospects for the industry considering recent market developments. The Las Vegas shows, followed by the AGS Conclave in Dallas and the AGTA GemFair in Denver, confirmed the positive mood within the trade. That's because "people have had the best sales year of their lives," said journalist Jennifer Heebner, who j...Read More

3 things that help keep capital projects on trackSPONSOREDproudfootAzure eyes province potential ahead of Andover resourceSPONSOREDazure mineralsAmerican Pacific building US copper positionSPONSOREDamerican pacific miningConcession and pre-construction accelerates world class Potash MineSPONSOREDhighfield resourcesA lot has happened since those comments were howled down by activists deeply opposed...Read More

Novelis will invest approximately $130 million to upgrade its operations in Oswego, New York, the global aluminum rolling and recycling firm said in a press release on October 18.The project will increase hot mill capacity by 124,000 tonnes at the plant, which serves the can, automotive and specialty products markets, Atlanta-based Novelis said. The investment, which will be between spring 2022 an...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds recovered two huge diamonds - 245-carat and 102-carat - on the same day from its Letseng mine, in Lesotho.The London-based miner said both stones were high-quality Type II, and were recovered on Friday (15 October).Earlier this year Gem, which owns 70 per cent of the mine, found a couple of even bigger stones -  370-carat and 254-carat - within six days. They were...Read More

3 things that help keep capital projects on trackSPONSOREDproudfootAzure eyes province potential ahead of Andover resourceSPONSOREDazure mineralsAmerican Pacific building US copper positionSPONSOREDamerican pacific miningConcession and pre-construction accelerates world class Potash MineSPONSOREDhighfield resourcesThose rumours have been stoked by a story published in Canada's Globe & Mail tha...Read More

From supply chain disruptions to London Metal Exchange spreads, aluminium market participants discussed a wide variety of topics during LME Week, and what they could mean for the market in the months ahead.Fastmarkets breaks down the winners and losers across the various topics discussed during the week of October 11-15.Embedded supply chains - winnersWhile costs along the supply chain continue to...Read More

3 things that help keep capital projects on trackSPONSOREDproudfootAzure eyes province potential ahead of Andover resourceSPONSOREDazure mineralsAmerican Pacific building US copper positionSPONSOREDamerican pacific miningConcession and pre-construction accelerates world class Potash MineSPONSOREDhighfield resourcesIt has already committed to net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.Read More

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange closed lower day on day on Tuesday October 19 after a strong open.The LME zinc three-month price led the decline among the base metals, closing at $3,508 per tonne - down more than 5% from $3,696 per tonne at the open."Even though we believe the LME zinc price can remain elevated...Read More

The Russian government has removed or reduced existing export duties on ferro-alloys, effective October 15, after responding to domestic industry concerns, trade sources said.Russia implemented its latest export tax changes on Friday October 15, a move which included scrapping the export taxon ferro-alloys such as ferro-titanium and ferro-tungsten.On Monday, Russia's Ministry of Economic Developme...Read More

3 things that help keep capital projects on trackSPONSOREDproudfootAzure eyes province potential ahead of Andover resourceSPONSOREDazure mineralsAmerican Pacific building US copper positionSPONSOREDamerican pacific miningConcession and pre-construction accelerates world class Potash MineSPONSOREDhighfield resourcesThe company, which is headed up by Perth-based resource veterans Ian Middlemas and J...Read More

Digitalization can provide the metals trading industry with several benefits, including access to buyers' and suppliers' networks, panellists said at an LME Week seminar in London on October 11.The primary driver for adopting digital platforms so far has been that it offers a new route to the market and growth in customer base, said John Eastwood, head of stainless-steel raw materials sales at Ang...Read More

3 things that help keep capital projects on trackSPONSOREDproudfootAzure eyes province potential ahead of Andover resourceSPONSOREDazure mineralsAmerican Pacific building US copper positionSPONSOREDamerican pacific miningConcession and pre-construction accelerates world class Potash MineSPONSOREDhighfield resourcesRio Tinto destroyed the 46,000-year-old caves in May 2020, devastating traditional o...Read More

3 things that help keep capital projects on trackSPONSOREDproudfootAzure eyes province potential ahead of Andover resourceSPONSOREDazure mineralsAmerican Pacific building US copper positionSPONSOREDamerican pacific miningConcession and pre-construction accelerates world class Potash MineSPONSOREDhighfield resourcesThe annual average input cost escalation in the South African mining sector was 8.58...Read More

Expectations of further volatility in the steel markets for the remainder of 2021 were influencing buying habits among some importers of steel billet in Asia, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday October 19.China's absence from buying on the import steel billet market continued on Tuesday, with consumers able to pay a maximum of $700-710 per tonne cfr for 3sp billet. But prices in Southeast Asia ha...Read More