Chinese coronavirus outbreak raising concerns about retail demand as businesses extend Lunar New Year shutdown. Travel restrictions likely to affect global trading, leading to possible polished oversupply following strong rough demand. De Beers Jan. sales +9% to $545M as sightholders replenish inventory after good holiday season. Petra Diamonds 1H revenue -6% to $194M but notes rough-price increas...Read More
Slow movement with few overseas buyers visiting during Chinese New Year. Some shortages following reduction in polished production. Manufacturing profits thin as rough prices strengthen at start of year. Cutters and traders increasingly considering lab-grown diamonds in search of better profit margins. Local jewelry market weak despite wedding season. Health scare in Asia adding to caution. Roun...Read More
RAPAPORT... Higher-priced luxury watches have gained popularity among consumers in the past five years, according to a report by Watches of Switzerland. Timepieces valued above GBP 10,000 ($13,073) represented 37% of the group's sales in the men's market in 2019, compared with 34% in 2014, the jeweler reported Thursday in its 2019 Luxury Timepiece Market Trends Report. Those priced between GB...Read More
Japanese scrap prices continued to tumble this week, pushed down by disappointing demand in both the domestic and export markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 30. "Steel mill production and demand in Japan is not so good, so scrap prices are decreasing, but scrap generation is also poor," one scrapyard source said "So even though the local mills' buying prices are falling, I don't...Read More
RAPAPORT... Industry veteran Michael O'Connor will join The Plumb Club as marketing director. He will be responsible for creating and developing new methods for shaping the future of the industry.O'Connor has worked in various positions in the industry over the past 35 years, including retail, manufacturing, design and strategic marketing, The Plumb Club said Wednesday. He was previously dire...Read More
(IDEX Online) - With financing in the diamond industry increasingly tight, Russian banks could step in to inject some much needed funds into the market. Eximbank of Russia, which is part of the Russian Export Center Group, has issued its first loan to a diamond company. The loan agreement, which was underwritten by Exiar, provides for a 24-month revolving credit line in euros to Belgian compa...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has released a revised version of its Chain of Custody (CoC) standard to all members to be certified for their silver supply chain.The voluntary standard already has certification in place for gold and platinum group metals.An updated version of the CoC standard will be available to members from 30 January."Our standard offers a tool for memb...Read More
Heavy rainfall in the Brazilian southeastern state of Minas Gerais has caused interruptions for some railway operators transporting iron ore for exports, but the impact has been minimal, companies told Fastmarkets on Wednesday January 29.January 2020 has had the highest rainfall rate in 110 years, the Minas Gerais' state governor office said on Wednesday. Vale, the world's largest iron ore pr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Swiss jeweler De Grisogono has filed for bankruptcy, putting 65 jobs at risk. The Swiss luxury jeweler is caught up in an alleged money-laundering scandal involving Angola's richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, and her husband, Sindika Dokolo.Dos Santos is the daughter of Angola's former president, Jos?? (C) Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Angola for 38 years until 2017. She i...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and watches at LVMH increased 7% in 2019 amid a strong year for Bulgari.Revenue from the categories rose to EUR 4.41 billion ($4.85 billion), driven by Bulgari's Fiorever collection, which contributed significantly to growth following its launch at the end of 2018, LVMH said Tuesday. The brand's Serpenti Seduttori watch line was well received, while Chaumet and Hu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Plumb Club has appointed Michael O'Connor as marketing director. O'Connor, an industry veteran with over 35 years' experience in the industry, will be in charge of the organization's strategic marketing plan and initiatives.He has held positions as director of corporate marketing for Frederick Goldman, Inc., as well as senior vice-president for Platinum Guil...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were unchanged on Thursday January 30, despite Australian miner Anglo American confirming a 'geotechnical issue at Moranbah North [mine in Queensland, Australia] during development works, which resulted in a roof fall incident.'Fastmarkets' indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.29 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $162.73 per tonne, u...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Oil demand growth has been weak in 2019, with the OPEC+ group surprisingly extending their cuts by a further 500 kbd through to end of Q1 in 2020. In spite of that, fears of sustained weak demand growth have restricted Brent to mid US...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.India's renewables target of 175 GW capacity (100 GW of solar and 75 GW of wind) by 2022 is an ambitious endeavour. Even with significant cost declines, Wood Mackenzie expects about 76% of the target to be met by 2022 and this would s...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.Join us for an exclusive Forum, co-chaired by SVP and Global Head of Metals and Mining, Linda Cardillo Doku and SVP and Vice Chairman of Metals and Mining, Julian Kettle – this event brings together Wood Mackenzie’s top su...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were down on Thursday January 30 while market participants further lowered estimates of physical transaction prices amid talk of steel production cuts in China and resulting concerns over the impact on mills' raw material procurement. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.94 per tonne, down $1.90 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.55 p...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa Diamond Company Limited has signed an agreement with Safdico International, a subsidiary of Graff International, to cut and polish a portion of rough diamonds from the Lulo alluvial mine. Safdico can purchase up to 60 percent of production from Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML), which Lucapa operates and in which it holds a 40-percent share.Under the terms of the agreemen...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Sixth Mediterranean Gemmological & Jewellery Conference will feature a roundtable debate on marketing lab-grown diamonds.The conference will take place from May 15 to 17 in Thessaloniki, Greece.Michael Schlamindger of Swarovski and Mark Cullinan of Cullinan Diamonds will be among the panelists at the discussion, which asks how synthetic diamonds and gems should be marketed...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.So this is Christmas, as John Lennon sang: another year over, and a new one just begun. It is the time of year for taking stock and looking to the future, and in that spirit, I have collected a selection of predictions for 2020 from 1...Read More
John Meyer, Sergey Raevskiy and Simon Beardsmore of SP Angel clinched the top spot on the base metals leaderboard for the Apex fourth-quarter 2019 predictions, with an accuracy rating of 99.29%, while Rhona O'Connell of INTL FC Stone came top for precious metals with a rating of 99.26%.For steel raw materials, ABN Amro's Casper Burgering topped the leaderboard with a 97.44% accuracy score.Click on...Read More