Diamond markets mixed. US and China recovery fueling optimism, but uncertainty remains due to worrying coronavirus situation in India. Europe relatively weak. Supply volatility expected in short term. Polished inventory levels declining as manufacturers reduce capacity and GIA backlog rises. Cutters focused on 1 ct. polished and larger. Small De Beers sight projected for next week. US consumer con...Read More

RAPAPORT... Pandora has signed a new EUR 950 million ($1.15 billion) credit facility whose pricing is linked to the progress it will make on twin sustainability objectives.The credit line refinances Pandora's current undrawn facility, which is scheduled to mature in May 2022 but whose size was not disclosed in the company's statement Thursday. However, the Danish jeweler said that a EUR 400 millio...Read More

RAPAPORT... The diamond industry has rallied behind efforts to alleviate the dire Covid-19 situation in India, with various campaigns to raise funds and bring much-needed medical supplies to the country. "The international diamond and jewelry industry is a close-knit community, actually a family, made up of members from around the globe, many of whom live or originate in India," said Yoram Dvash,...Read More

RAPAPORT... A number of pieces sold for well above their estimates at the Bonhams London Jewels auction, which garnered a total of GBP 2.7 million ($3.8 million).A Bulgari ring set with a step-cut, 10.04-carat Colombian emerald bracketed by diamonds was the top seller, fetching GBP 598,750 ($835,223), more than double its GBP 250,000 ($348, 736) high valuation, Bonhams said Wednesday. A ring conta...Read More

RAPAPORT... Diamond Foundry has raised $200 million to bring production up to "mining" levels, giving the lab-grown maker a valuation of $1.8 billion, it said Wednesday.The Series C investment from Fidelity, which completed at the end of March, will help Diamond Foundry lift annual output to 5 million carats at its factory in Washington state by the end of 2020, a company spokesperson said in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is set to give shareholders their biggest-ever half-year dividend.The Russian state-owned miner is proposing a $942m payout for H2 2020, an increase of 47 per cent on the full-year payout for 2019.  It amounts to just under 13 US cents a share.That's in spite of the global pandemic that saw diamond sales at virtually zero a year ago. No dividend was paid in H1 2020...Read More

RAPAPORT... The dramatic spike in Covid-19 infections in India has injected uncertainty into the diamond market. As the country struggles with the severe humanitarian crisis, the industry has reduced its manufacturing and trading activity significantly. The rate of new daily coronavirus cases started to rise in mid-March and escalated rapidly. That left hospitals stretched beyond capacity, without...Read More

(IDEX Online) - An emergency fundraising campaign has been launched by the WFDB to send medication and equipment to India as it battles a catastrophic spike in Covid fatalities.The global diamond community is being urged to contribute as the official number of COVID-19 deaths today hit 200,000. Many experts fear the real figure is far higher.The executive committee of the World Federation of Diamo...Read More

Fastmarkets' weekly price assessments for the CIS export steel market will not be published on May 3 or 4 because of recent changes to the public holiday schedule in Ukraine. Instead, the prices will be published on May 5.The prices affected will be:MB-STE-0012 Steel cold-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, $ per tonneMB-STE-0013 Steel heavy plate, 8-50mm, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, $ per to...Read More

Turkish steelmakers took a break from deep-sea scrap purchases to monitor conditions in the finished steel markets on Thursday April 29, ahead of a 17-day coronavirus lockdown, sources told Fastmarkets.The most recent deep-sea trade was recorded on Wednesday April 28, when a steel mill in northern Turkey was heard booking 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the Baltic Sea at $432 per tonne cfr.T...Read More

Continued problems with the sourcing of semiconductor chips could start to affect the revenues of Kaiser Aluminum's automotive unit in the second half of the year, the semi-fabricated speciality aluminium producer has warned.The United States-based company has experienced slight delays in some automotive application programs in the first quarter of the year, it said on Thursday April 29, mainly du...Read More

Vimy set for 'uranium boom boom'SPONSOREDvimy resourcesGroup copper production rose 3% year-on-year in Q1 to 301,000 tonnes, driven by productivity improvements and mine sequencing at its operations in South America, including Collahuasi, Antamina andRead More

The demand for nickel and cobalt as battery materials for electric vehicles (EV) will keep their long-term bullish fundamentals intact, according to Canadian miner Sherritt International.Over the past six months, numerous carmakers and governments have announced plans for significant investments to expand EV production capacity to meet growing demand, the company said.Sherritt produces nickel plus...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationAsiamet terminated its deal with Aeturnum in January after the latter failed to transfer an initial payment of US$2.5 million. Shares in Asiament more than halved in value as a result.Read More

Visible progress has been made toward network readiness and the availability of 5G telecommunications in the first quarter of 2021, after delays last year resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, sources have told Fastmarkets.There has been already a significant ramping-up of the uptake of 5G devices so far this year. The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), in its 5G devices summary for March...Read More

Look beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipEmmerson's premium offeringSPONSOREDemmerson plcAlto emerging on song at SandstoneSPONSOREDalto metalsTowards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guidance Aligns with Global StandardSPONSOREDthe mining association of canadaThe company announced plans on Tuesday to raise $50 million and the offer attracted strong support. An institutio...Read More

A summary of Canada-headquartered Lundin Mining's output figures for the first quarter of 2021, as stated in its production report published on Wednesday April 28.In brief Lundin's Candelaria mine in Chile, and the Chapada mine in Brazil, increased mill throughput in the first quarter after disruptions reported in the last three months of 2020. Copper production fell year on year due to lower copp...Read More

ADC 12 aluminium alloy prices in China rose on Wednesday April 28, due to higher production costs and reduced supplies, caused by a month of environmental inspections in Jiangxi province.China's Environmental Protection Inspection Team is conducting checks in Jiangxi until May 7 and many ADC 12 producers there have lowered their output while the checks take place."We heard that producers in Jiangx...Read More

Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly price assessment for Aluminium ingot ADC 12, exw dp China, yuan/tonne, which was published incorrectly on Wednesday April 28 due to a reporter error.The assessment should have been 17,900-18,300 yuan per tonne, rather than 17,900-18,200 yuan per tonne, which was the previous week's range.This has now been corrected in Fastmarkets' pricing database, MinD.For mor...Read More

Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will increase domestic flat-rolled steel prices by 16-18% in May, following the upward trend in other global markets and in an attempt to offset raw material cost inflation, commercial executive director Luis Martinez announced during the company's first-quarter earnings call on Thursday April 29.CSN's hot-rolled coil prices will rise by 1...Read More