RAPAPORT... The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) and celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz have chosen a second batch of designers and unveiled the finished pieces from round one of its Emerging Designers Diamond Initiative (EDDI).Members of the initial draft, all belonging to the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) community, will see their pieces sold online, the NDC said last week. The cou...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong's polished-diamond imports rose 68% year on year to $3.77 billion in the second quarter of 2021 as the market saw a gradual rebound. However, figures were still lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the most recent data from the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong, China.Hong Kong Trade Data for 2Q 2021 Read More
RAPAPORT... Production at Gahcho Ku?(C) dropped in the third quarter as Mountain Province mined ore from a lower-grade portion of the Canadian deposit.Ore from the asset yielded 1.88 carats of rough diamonds per tonne in the three months ending September 30, 14% lower than the same period a year ago. Total output fell 13% to 1.6 million carats, Mountain Province, which owns 49% of the asset, said...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has unearthed two large rough stones from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, marking the fourth and fifth diamonds from the deposit over 100 carats this year.The stones - weighing 245 and 102 carats - are high-quality, white, type II diamonds, the miner said Monday. The company found both stones on the same day.The recoveries follow that of two diamonds weighing 370 and 254 car...Read More
Vale's operational license at its On??a Puma nickel mine in northern Brazil has again been suspended by the state court of Par??, the Brazilian mining company said on Monday October 18.A judge revoked a previous legal injunction from October 7 that allowed the company to run On??a Puma, according to Vale, thus reinstating a suspension of its operational license issued on October 1.Par?? state...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa reports a drop of 20 per cent in rough diamond sales (quarter-on-quarter) - and a rise of 22 per cent in its gem quality price index (year-on-year).The Russian state-owned miner says global stocks are at their lowest levels for years, pushing prices up as supply struggles to match the bounce-back in consumer demand."Jewelry demand is strong in all the key markets," it says i...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa today announced record performances at its mines in Angola and Lesotho, reflecting strong post-lockdown demand for diamonds. The Australian miner raised its full-year revenue guidance last week by up to 27 per cent, in what it calls a "resurgent diamond market".It said Q3 throughput at the Lulo mine, in Angola, and Mothae, in Lesotho, were both at record high levels.&nb...Read More
Silicon sales upward of $5 per lb reported in Mexico and Canada indicate continued upward pressure on prices of the aluminium alloying metal in the United States, which reached another all-time high on Thursday October 14.Fastmarkets assessed the price of silicon, ddp US at $3.35-4.25 per lb on October 14, up by 18.75% from $2.90-3.50 per lb on October 7.This was the fourth week in a row...Read More
(IDEX Online) - China's diamond trade is heading for a record year in 2021, says the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE).Total imports and exports of rough and polished diamonds through the SDE were $5.718bn from January to September and are likely to top $6bn by the year end. By comparison, in 2018, the busiest year ever for the Chinese diamond industry, total trade was $5.784bn.Net import...Read More
Ford Motor will invest $316 million to build electric car components at its Halewood factory in northern England, it said.The US automotive manufacturer expects power unit production to begin in mid-2024, with capacity planned to be around 250,000 units per year, it said in a release on Monday October 18.This vehicle transmission facility, which currently builds transmissions for several...Read More
A summary of Peru-based miner Buenaventura's output and sales figures for the third quarter of 2021, as stated in its production report published on Friday October 15.In brief Mine production and sales volumes were down year on year due to halted operations at Uchucchacua - near the country capital city, Lima - due to a blockade by local community members and lower recovery rates at El Brocal, whi...Read More
The total amount of lead held outside of the London Metal Exchange's warehouses fell by 77.6% over August, with most other metals also posting declines, according to the LME's latest report. After a small rise in July, the total amount of metal held outside of LME sheds was down by 150,694 tonnes to 813,916 tonnes in August. Lead had the biggest decrease - just 1,053 tonnes were left off-wa...Read More
Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de M?(C)xico (Ahmsa) concluded a two-week maintenance at its hot-rolling mill, it said on Monday October 18.The equipment went through ha "full revamp and revision," which will secure its continuous operation, Ahmsa said.During the stoppage, demand for hot-rolled coil was...Read More
Trading activity in the European hot-rolled coil market remained subdued on Monday October 18, with mills and buyers both holding back from trading, sources told Fastmarkets.Sentiment remains gloomy due to the drop in demand from the automotive segment. Auto-industry output - and, consequently, steel demand - has fallen due to a shortage of semiconductors. Market sources reported that mills supply...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil declined in the European Union in the week to Friday October 15, reflecting bearish sentiment in the market and poor demand from the automotive segment.Buyers and sellers have held back from making deals, with only limited volumes traded in Europe during the week.Steel prices have been under downward pressure from weak automotive demand, high distributor stocks...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States' (CIS) billet export prices increased following a couple of Black Sea cargoes reportedly sold to Turkey, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 18.A 10,000-tonne cargo from Russia was reportedly sold to Turkey at $650 per tonne fob late last week, several sources told Fastmarkets.Another billet cargo of around 20,000 tonnes was sold from Ukraine to Iskend...Read More
Export prices for rebar and wire rod originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States increased during the week to Monday October 18 on bullish offers from mills amid increased rolling costs, Fastmarkets heard.A steady uptrend in the international scrap market since last week, as well as increasing costs of production due to surging electricity and gas prices, pushed offers for CIS-origin l...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption rose by 8.52% year on year in September amid a surge in imports and an increase in long steel demand, national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil said.Consumption totaled 2.20 million tonnes in September, up from 2.03 million tonnes in the corresponding month last year, the association said on Friday October 15.Growth was more pronounced for long stee...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally up strongly this morning, Monday October 18, with energy shortages and high energy prices continuing to affect supply. The market seems to be ignoring, for now, the weaker economic data out of China.* China’s gross domestic product climbed 4.9% in the third quarter, down from 7.9% in the second quarte...Read More
A summary of the operational results for Russian steelmaker Severstal for the third quarter (July-September) of 2021In brief Steel sales were up by 1% quarter on quarter to 2.69 million tonnes due to strong sales of pig iron and slabs. Sales of hot-rolled steel and plate increased by 1% quarter on quarter to 1.12 million tonnes. The total share of export sales volume, including sales of pig iron,...Read More