Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices went down once again on the news of a fresh deal for a UK-origin cargo heard on Thursday January 23.The cargo was booked late on January 22 by a steel mill in the Iskenderun region at $277 per tonne cfr for 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20).This transaction compared with the most recent cargo sold at $295 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (95:5) from the United States o...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 23 that are worth another look.The digitalization of global trade received another push this week, with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the government of Singapore and industry participants signing an agreement to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of technologies in commerce at the World Economic Forum...Read More

Exports of non-ferrous scrap from the United States increased by 3.7% in the first 11 months of last year, reaching more than 2.8 million short tons, with aluminium the only metal to register an increase during the period.Zinc, meanwhile, recorded the biggest year-on-year decline, with shipments abroad falling by 23.2% to 31,940 tons from January-November 2019 versus the same period the previ...Read More

Hudbay Minerals has appointed Peter Kukielski the company's president and chief executive officer, the copper-zinc miner said on Wednesday January 22.Kukielski had been serving as interim president and CEO of Hudbay since July 2019, a period that coincides with a US District Court blocking the company's Rosemont project."We are very pleased to appoint Peter as Hudbay's president and chief executiv...Read More

Chilean state-run copper producer Codelco started production from the expansion to its El Teniente division on Thursday January 23, 10 months ahead of schedule, the company said on the day.The expansion is the first step in a project that will increase mine life by 50 years by 2023, Codelco added.The miner has invested $759 million in phase 1 of the expansion, called the Recursos Norte project, wh...Read More

Polished sentiment positive following steady holiday sales. Strong interest in 0.30 ct., D-F, IF-VS1, but high-end 3 ct. and larger weak. Increasing rough demand raising polished-oversupply concerns as large quantities expected to enter market in coming weeks. De Beers lifts prices in some categories at Jan. sight and plans changes to rough buying criteria. De Beers 2019 sales -8% to 31M cts. Alro...Read More

Polished slower than usual for this time of year. Dealers worried about repeat of 2019 diamond glut as they anticipate influx of rough following large De Beers and Alrosa January sales. Chinese New Year offering some optimism for suppliers. Local Indian jewelry market weak amid tight liquidity and high gold prices. RoundRead More

RAPAPORT... De Beers plans to abandon its practice of using sightholders' purchase history as the main factor in determining how it allocates rough supply, sources have told Rapaport News.The move, which would go into effect from 2021, would see the miner shift to more subjective criteria for deciding the value of goods each client receives.The current system, known as "demonstrated demand,"...Read More

Prices for some imported flat steel products moved up again in the United States, with importers reluctant to bring in competitive offers from overseas due to a lack of buying interest.Market participants previously said that imports could become attractive again after a collective effort by domestic flat-rolled steel mills to push prices up. While prices for domestic flat-rolled steel produc...Read More

RAPAPORT... Craig Danforth will join the advisory board of Gem Legacy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting African colored-gemstone mining communities.Danforth, the vice president of client solutions for Jewelers Mutual Group, has more than 25 years of experience in training, sales, marketing and finance, Gem Legacy said Tuesday. He is also on the board of directors for the Women...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States moved closer to $30.50 per hundredweight on Thursday January 23 despite deep unease among some steel buyers about staying power at that level.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $30.44 per cwt ($608.80 per ton) on Thursday, up 1.4% from $30.03 per cwt the previous day but down 1% from $30.75 per cwt a week e...Read More

RAPAPORT... DelGatto Diamond Finance will provide funding directly to customers of rough and polished tender operator Koin International. "All buyers can obtain financing," DelGatto founder Chris Del Gatto told Rapaport News Wednesday. "It will be up to them if they want to reach out to us prior and discuss what they think they want financing-wise, or they can even do it the day of the tender...Read More

RAPAPORT... Millennial consumers are independent, vocal, tech-savvy and used to getting what they want. They have disposable income and aren't afraid to spend it on things they believe add value to their lives, no matter the price tag. But successfully enticing this market into your store is not as easy as it was with their moms and dads, and retaining them can be even more difficult. That's...Read More

(Press Release) - Over the last several years the HB Company principals have worked solely on the ambition to transform the diamond supply chain, creating a new transparent ecosystem, reconnecting the consumer with the rare beauty of the rough stone.  The company announces a ground-breaking collaboration with Louis Vuitton and Lucara Diamond Corp, to manufacture the historic, record sett...Read More

Investment in South African exploration has been lean of late, with numerous factors contributing to this reality, including the state of the economy and the ability to secure seed funding, says Investing in African Mining Indaba head of content Tom Quinn, of UK event organiser Hyve Group.Themed Optimising Growth and Investment in the Digitised Mining Economy, Investing in African Mining Indaba 20...Read More

The price of billet in Turkish markets has gone down over the past week on decreasing imported scrap values, sources said on Thursday January 23.The billet offers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) slipped to as low as $410 per tonne cfr levels, downfrom last week's minimum levels of $415 per tonne. Only one firm bid was heard at $408 per tonne cfr, according to sources.Fastmarkets'...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has announced that the diamond price index for 2019 dropped 6 percent over 2018. For the fourth quarter, it fell 2 percent compared to Q3 2019.In the fourth quarter, the average realised price for gem-quality diamonds increased 9 percent (down 3% y-o-y) to $148 per carat. For the full year, prices totaled $133/ct (down 19%).Fourth quarter rough and polished sales revenue inc...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelers Mutual has arranged additional surveillance for commercial lines policyholders in an unnamed state in the Midwest because of what it terms suspicious activity. This is the second time in the past few months that the company has had to do so. In October 2019, Jewelers Mutual provided extra security surveillance to policyholders in California during widespread power out...Read More

(IDEX Online) - BlueRock Diamonds has announced that it operated profitably for the first time in the second half of 2019. The miner started operations in 2012.The AIM-listed diamond producer, which owns and operates the Kareevlei DiamondMine in the Kimberley region of South Africa said its revenue was up 190 percent to ?, ?4.1 million ($5.4 million) for full year 2019. The miner sold 12,675...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Anglo American today (Thursday) announced that De Beers' Q4 2019 production dropped 15 percent to 7.8 million carats compared to Q4 2018 (9.1 million carats). The company said the lower figures were because of lower production levels in South Africa and Botswana.For the full year, De Beers' diamond production totaled 30.8 million carats, a drop of 13 percent compared to 2...Read More