China's copper smelters face limited scope to slash production even as diminished demand on virus-related lockdowns raises concerns refined inventories could grow. Daye Nonferrous, based in Huangshi at the heart of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province, plans to operate at just a moderately reduced rate of 70-80% of capacity for the first quarter, a company source said. A market source...Read More

RAPAPORT... Danish jeweler Pandora expects revenue to fall 3% to 6% in 2020 following a drop in consumer sentiment in China."The performance in the Chinese market is not satisfactory, and continued to deteriorate in [the fourth quarter]," the company noted. "Traffic into physical stores declined by double-digit rates, only partly offset by increased traffic online."The forecast does not take...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained soft after buyers expressed bearish outlooks for the near-term market on falling domestic ferrous scrap prices, soft demand from certain end-user markets and uncertainty generated by the Wuhan coronavirus.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US ended Wednesday February 5 at $29.67 per hundredweight ($593.40 per shor...Read More

RAPAPORT... Revenue from watches and jewelry at Swatch Group fell 3% to CHF 7.97 billion ($8.19 billion) last year, reflecting weakness in Hong Kong and the negative impact of the strong Swiss franc.The consortium, which owns watch brands Omega and Tissot and luxury jeweler Harry Winston, saw a sales slowdown in Hong Kong during the second half of 2019 amid social unrest in the municipality,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Revenue and profit at Titan Company rose in the third fiscal quarter, driven by strong sales during the Diwali festival and wedding season in India.Consolidated sales - including subsidiaries - increased 10% year on year to INR 65.5 billion ($919.9 million) in the three months ending December 31, while profit climbed 15% to INR 4.74 billion ($66.6 million), the Indian jeweler said...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will offer $2 million in scholarship funds to aspiring students in 2020, it said Tuesday.Students interested in gemology and jewelry-manufacturing arts programs, distance-education courses and lab classes can apply for funding. The scholarships cover classes at the GIA's campuses in Bangkok, Carlsbad, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York a...Read More

(IDEX Online) - For Valentine's Day, Domino's Australia is giving one lucky pizza lover the chance to win a one-of-a-kind diamond "en-crust-ed" engagement ring valued at over AU$9,000 ($6,000). The ring in question features an 18-karat yellow and white gold base topped with diamond "cheese' and 'pepperoni' rubies. The ring has over 1 carat of diamonds. For a chan...Read More

RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. is the jewelry brand women are most likely to buy for themselves, MVI Marketing found in a survey.Some 35% of female consumers would spend their money on products from the luxury-jewelry brand, while 22% would buy Pandora, 18% would pick Swarovski and 17% would go for Gucci. Other brands mentioned in the survey included Cartier, Rolex, Alex and Ani, and Tory Burch.Nea...Read More

The price of steel rebar in Europe moved downward this week following a continued decrease in the price of feedstock materials, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?480-490 ($530-541) per tonne on Wednesday, down from ?,?490-500 per tonne one week earlier."Prices are goin...Read More

LSE-listed Gem Diamonds has recovered an exceptional 183 ct white Type IIa diamond from the Letšeng mine, in Lesotho, the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.It has also recovered two other significant high-quality diamonds, weighing 89 ct and 70 ct.AdvertisementTo watch Creamer Media's latest video reports, click here AdvertisementRead More

(IDEX Online) Alrosa has moved its March auctions for rough and polished diamonds from Hong Kong to other trading centers. The decision comes amid the ongoing spread of the coronavirus in the region.An auction for special size rough diamonds will take place in Moscow from March 2-18. The Israeli trading center of Ramat Gan will host a polished diamond auction although the dates have yet to be fina...Read More

Dominion Diamond Mines ULC has appointed Patrick Merrin as its interim CEO. Merrin, COO - Mining of The Washing Companies, takes over from Shane Durgin who has left Dominion.  "Having Patrick step in as interim CEO, in addition to his recently announced role as COO - Mining for The Washington Companies, will provide for a seamless transition in leadership and continued strong oversight m...Read More

Prices for steel mesh-quality wire rod in Europe were flat this week although feedstock costs continued to fall, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, remained at ?,?460-470 ($508-519) per tonne on February 5, the third consecutive week of stability.Feedstock prices rose sharply...Read More

The price of hollow steel sections prices in Europe remained flat this week, with many waiting for the import quotas to be exhausted which will support the domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 5. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?620-640 ($685-707) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week. F...Read More

The price of steel H-beams in Northern Europe moved down on Wednesday February 5 following a sharp drop in feedstock costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?540 - 570 per tonne ($597-630) per tonne on Wednesday, down from ?,?550-580 per tonne a week earlier.Producers had been pushing for price increases for H...Read More

Iranian export steel billet and slab prices increased in the week to Wednesday February 5, but no new deals have been heard.In the wider market in the region, the steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, has slipped by $1 per tonne over the week, and was calculated at $392 per tonne on February 4 amid weakening scrap prices.And Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix),...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) puts the combined Kamoa-Kakula project at 423 million tonnes grading 4.68% copper, at a 3% cut off. At a 1% cut off, the resource figure jumps to 1.Read More

Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesOn one island is the big but abandoned Panguna copper and gold mine closed prematurely by an arm of Rio Tinto in 1989.Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesGlencore announced it had appointed former China Molybdenum International CEO Kalidas Madhavpeddi as an independent non-executive director, with chairman Tony Hayward saying the company looking forward to benefitting from his experience and insights, which included substantial business dealings in the DRC.The company maintained its...Read More

The ferrous scrap export market in the United States is facing more downside with East Coast docks continuing to adjust their buying prices downward in anticipation that the next sale will be lower.Late last month, an East Coast exporter sold 15,000 tonnes of an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap at $267.50 per tonne and 15,000 tonnes of shredded scrap at $272.50 to Turkey - and the next...Read More