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
(IDEX Online) - The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has announced plans to hold its second African Diamond Conference (ADC). The conference will take place in Durban, South Africa on May 5-6.The last ADC took place in Brussels in 2017.The AWDC website describes the event as a high-level gathering for African mining ministers, the diplomatic corps, global diamond industry, civil society and aca...Read More
The Minerals Council South Africa is no longer just the voice of the mining majors, Grant Mitchell, who heads up the council's Junior and Emerging Miners Desk, pointed out in a briefing at the 2020 Investing in African Mining Indaba, this week.He highlighted that 40% of the Minerals Council's members were junior miners.AdvertisementHe also noted that South Africa's junior mining sector...Read More
(IDEX Online) - According to media reports, Endiama EP, Angola's state-owned diamond mining company plans to sell up to 30 percent of its shares in an initial public offering (IPO) in 2022.Bloomber said the sale is part of the government's plan to increase transparency in the diamond sector and increase production.Jose Manuel Ganga Junior, Endiama chairman, told Bloomberg the government...Read More
Mining companies and host governments have been urged to take a long-term view when investing in the natural resources sector in Africa.During a panel discussion at the 2020 Investing in African Mining Indaba on why investors should consider investing in Africa, Vedanta Resources CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat) highlighted the continent's "phenomenal potential" given its natu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara Diamond Corp. has recovered an unbroken 549-carat white diamond that it says is of "exceptional purity." The stone was recovered from the Karowe diamond mine in Botswana.The huge find follows the recent recovery of a gem-quality 176-carat stone from the same ore block - the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe. It also delivered other high-value diamonds including the 1,758-carat...Read More
Diamond miner Lucara Diamond Corporation has recovered an unbroken 549 ct white diamond "of exceptional purity" from its Karowe mine, in Botswana.The diamond was recovered from direct milling of ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe. This follows the recent recovery of a gem-quality 176 ct diamond from the same ore block.AdvertisementThe EM/PK(S) continues to produce large...Read More
MOSCOW - Russia's Alrosa, the world's largest diamond mining company, will hold its March auctions in Moscow and Israel after Hong Kong postponed two jewellery shows because of the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Wednesday.Demand for diamonds in China, the world's second-largest market after the United States, had already weakened last year because of trade tensions and democ...Read More
Expectations of robust steel mill restocking have been tempered by demand fears that have knocked iron ore prices by over 10% since before the holiday, but big questions remain about ex-China supply factors such as risks to Brazilian production.Supply and stocks The wider iron ore stock situation is key here: Concerns about seaborne supply resume. Heavy rainfall and mining issues a...Read More
Turkish steel mills have started to show more interest in deep-sea scrap cargoes following the latest drop in prices, sources said on Thursday February 6.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a cargo from the United States, comprising 21,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $260 per tonne, 3,000 tonnes of shredded at $265 per tonne and 6,000 tonnes of bonus at $270 per tonne cfr. The previous U...Read More
Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesWoodMac's best case scenario is that demand from this sector would be delayed to later this year. "As a result, we believe that there is now a significant downside risk to our forecast of 0.9% Chinese total copper consumption growth for 2020."China accounted for about 47% of the total global copper consumption in 2019.Artemis all s...Read More
Prices are steady so far since domestic supply constraints and disruptions to seaborne availability have been counterbalanced by demand-side weakness from lower steel output. Supply and stocks Containment measures for the virus have delayed the restart of domestic China coking coal mines after the Chinese New Year holiday, curbing domestic availability. Supply from Mongolia, that sells...Read More
Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesThe copper-zinc project has a measured and indicated 17.26 million tonne resource at 2.61% copper-equivalent and a 10.71Mt inferred resource at 1.67% Cu-eq. Kutcho said metallurgical results last year had improved on the copper and zinc recoveries compared with a 2017 prefeasibility study and the silver recovery also improved....Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Thursday February 6 amid concerns that a new cyclone will affect shipments from Western Australia, while Chinese port prices fell because of limited spot demand.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.17 per tonne, up by $1.86 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.50 per tonne, up by $2.35 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr...Read More
Seaborne coking coal market was largely quiet on Thursday February 6, although Canadian miner Teck Resources said it was expecting to sell fewer cargoes in the first three months of this year.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $150.65 per tonne, down $0.04 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $158.85 per tonne, down $0.21 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $127.01...Read More
South Korean steelmaker Hyundai Steel reported an almost 70% decline in operating profits in 2019 amid tightening margins between its raw materials buying prices and steel sales prices.In brief Operating profit of 331.3 billion Won ($277 million) in 2019, down by 67.7% year on year. Consolidated sales of 20.55 trillion Won, down by 1.3% year on year. Profits fell more sharply than sales due to raw...Read More
The broad-based rally across markets continues with investors focusing more on the improving economic data than they are on the uncertain economic impact of the Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Claims by Chinese media that a treatment for the virus had been found fueled the rallies yesterday, but the World Health Organization talked down the news.Asian equity indices up either side of 2% this mornin...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to drop on Thursday February 6 on thin trading, which forced some mills to put more focus on exports to reduce inventories.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,570-3,580 yuan ($511-512) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,270-3,280 yuan per tonne, narrowing downward by 20 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said he had sold sev...Read More
China's rebar prices were flat on Thursday February 6 amid inactivity, though some optimism emerged following the Chinese government's announcement of import duty cuts for certain products from the United States. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,360-3,400 yuan ($481-487) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,560 yuan per tonne, unchangedChina will halve its 5% and 10% tariffs on $75 bil...Read More
U.S. equity index futures continued to move higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 215,000 versus revised 217,000 last week. Actual was 202,000. Consensus for fourth quarter Productivity was an increase of 1.2% versus a decline...Read More