RAPAPORT... Sales and profit plummeted at Indian diamond manufacturer Asian Star in the first fiscal quarter as the coronavirus froze the company's activities.Revenue slumped 80% year on year to INR 1.64 billion ($22.2 million) for the three months ending June 30, the Mumbai-based company said earlier this month. Net profit plunged 98% to INR 4.3 million ($58,356).The figures, which include t...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sotheby's will sell a 118.88-carat, royal-blue, unheated Burmese sapphire in Hong Kong next week, the largest of its kind the auction house has offered in 20 years. The cushion-shaped stone, surrounded by pear-shaped diamonds weighing a total of 16.06 carats, will lead the October 7 Magnificent Jewels sale, Sotheby's said Monday. A pear-shaped, 4.84-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, internally...Read More

RAPAPORT... LVMH has filed a countersuit against Tiffany & Co., claiming a legal right to pull out of the companies' tie-up due to Covid-19 and the US jeweler's "mismanagement" of the crisis.The pandemic constitutes a "material adverse effect" that allows LVMH to renege on the $16 billion takeover deal, LVMH argued Tuesday. The catastrophic period will have serious and long-term effects o...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Raiders broke in through the roof of a Kay Jewelers store - part of the Signet group - and fled with an estimated $1m of jewelry.Police responded to an emergency call after the alarm went off in the early hours last Friday morning, but looked through the windows and saw no evidence that anything was amiss.When staff arrived for work hours later at the store in Hinnesville, Georgia,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The French luxury conglomerate LVMH yesterday countersued Tiffany & Co, claiming the takeover agreement had become invalidated by the coronavirus pandemic. LVMH backed out of its delayed ?, ?16.2bn purchase three weeks ago, citing pressure from the French government over a tariffs war with the US and saying the deal was "no longer possible". Tiffany responded by suing LVMH.&nb...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's exports of lab-grown diamonds surged by a record 40 per cent in August.They represent a tiny fraction of its overall diamond production, but have shown sustained growth during the pandemic, while sales of natural stones have suffered badly.Year-on year exports of lab-growns were 37 per cent up in June, 22 per cent up in July and 40 per cent up in August, according to t...Read More

Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have decreased over the past seven days with demand being weak, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 29.Most market participants believed that prices would remain stable or decrease further in the coming few days because of weakening Chinese demand and an upcoming holiday in the East Asian country.China will take a nati...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market on the second working day of the week, in anticipation of a downturn in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 29.A steel mill in northern Turkey broke the long-term silence by booking two Baltic Sea cargoes at $296 per tonne cfr late last week - the first trading activity since Se...Read More

The US Midwest aluminium premium declined further on Tuesday September 29, with growing uncertainty surrounding trade actions - not just against Canada - leading many traders to offer discounts in order to move material.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 12.5-14 cents per lb on September 29, down by 7% from 13.5-15 cents per lb previously, where the premium had he...Read More

A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday September 29. Please click...Read More

The formal consultation process for collective dismissal at Alcoa's San Cipri??n aluminium smelter in Spain has ended without an agreement with the workers' representatives, the producer said on Tuesday September 29.Alcoa now have up to 15 days to determine and announce a decision regarding the smelter's 228,000 metric tonnes of annual capacity. An agreement was previously reached with the workers...Read More

Bolivian zinc-lead producer Minera San Crist??bal has achieved full production after reopening from a 21-day outage in mid-September, the company's owner and operator, Sumitomo, confirmed late on Monday September 28."Minera San Crist??bal started mobilizing on September 14, [resumed operation of] the plant on September 16, and [was] at full production [by] September 18," a spokesperson for Sumitom...Read More

The discount paid for ferro-nickel with 26-32% nickel content in China narrowed to the lowest level in three months due to increased buying interest following the big rise in the Chinese nickel pig iron (NPI) price, sources said. Fastmarkets assessed the ferro-nickel premium/discount, 26-32% Ni contained, cif China at a discount of $1,000-1,300 per tonne on Monday September 28, narrowing by $...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower during morning trading on Tuesday September 29, with a fresh inflow of more than 34,000 tonnes of copper doing little to impact the metal's stagnant price, while tin futures showed fight in a 0.4% uptick. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $6,559.50 per tonne, dipping 0.5% below Monday's cl...Read More

Prices in the Commonwealth of Independent States' (CIS) export long steel market declined in the week to Monday September 28 on low demand in the majority of end-market outlets as well as generally negative sentiment globally, sources said.In the second half of September, CIS mills tested the market with higher rebar and wire rod offers, referring to the reduced availability of material at some si...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed but little changed this morning, Tuesday September 29, while prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were firmer as they caught up with Monday’s performance on the LME.* Last week’s pullbacks have run into dip-buying – hopes for further stimulus are buoying markets.* US Congress making progress in talks regarding support mea...Read More

The price of steel rebar and billet imported to the United Arab Emirates fell this week on limited demand, sources said on Tuesday September 29.Domestic rebarSince September 15, the country's biggest producer, Emirates Steel, has been offering rebar at 1,936 dirhams ($527) per tonne ex-works for orders to be produced in October, while Conares Steel is offering rebar at 1,935.27 dirhams ($526....Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.The SAVANT platform, which uses satellite data to monitor up to 90% of copper smelting capacity around the world, said the global activity dispersion index averaged 44.2 during the month, a sequential improvement but still the lowest recording for August since 2016's 41.5."The most striking data in August was t...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Tuesday September 29 amid a less-than-bullish outlook after the release of a draft plan for autumn-winter steelmaking restrictions.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,620-3,650 yuan ($530-535) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China will restrict steelmakers' production over the next six months to improve air quality during the autumn-winter heating season, ac...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.Highlights included a 1,010m interval from surface grading 0.59% copper, 0.02% molybdenum and 0.1 grams per tonne gold including 716m grading 0.63% copper 0.02% molybdenum and 0.1g/t gold in a step out hole. This hole was collared about 426m east of the first two holes and improved upon the depth extent of know...Read More