Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 13 that are worth another look.Sentiment in the global long steel market has become more positive "especially after the announcement that a trade deal between the [United States] and China will be signed," the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said last week.International auditing and advisory...Read More

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange improved during morning trading on Monday January 13, with upward momentum supported by a fresh cancelation of some 4,434 tonnes, while continued outflows did little to move a steady aluminium price. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently seen up by 0.5% at $14,295 per tonne, while trading volumes topped the complex over the mornin...Read More

China's new policy to rename certain copper scrap, brass scrap and aluminium scrap as "recyclable raw materials" will take effect in July 2020, according to an official document seen by Fastmarkets. The criterion for eligibility has been approved by bureaus including the State Administration for Market Regulation and will be publicly announced in the next 20 days. Well informed sources told Fastma...Read More

An increase in demand for secondary aluminium from both Europe and abroad has fueled a jump in European scrap prices, according to markets sources.One of the main drivers of the increase in prices is the return of market participants in China and other Asian countries looking to Europe for scrap supply. That trend was sparked by the announcement of new aluminium scrap quotas for China in Dece...Read More

With the exception of aluminium and nickel, base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were little changed at the close of morning trading on Monday January 13.The complex exhibited mixed but limited movements this morning while reacting to underwhelming December employment data out of the United States at the end of last week. Data out on Friday showed that non-farm payrolls increased by...Read More

Rising ferrous scrap costs have nudged special bar quality (SBQ) steel spot prices upward in the United States, while sentiment among market participants has been weak to start the year, Fastmarkets has learned. On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US rose to $35 pe...Read More

Steel plate prices in the United States held steady for a fourth consecutive week after a December producer price hike did not materialize in transaction prices in the first full working week of 2020.Plate mills issued a $40-per-ton ($2-per-hundredweight) price increase in early December, their third round of hikes since early November. Prices strengthened in the first two weeks of December but st...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa's sales increased 11% year on year to $363.8 million in December as demand in the manufacturing sector continued to rebound, the Russian miner said Monday."In December, we observed signs of stabilizing diamond demand that had emerged earlier in the second half of the year amid the gradual restoration of market balance," said Alrosa deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev. The month...Read More

RAPAPORT... Phillips has appointed Paul Redmayne head of private jewelry sales as part of its efforts to expand its jewelry department internationally, the auction house said Monday.Redmayne, who will be responsible for managing relationships with top jewelry collectors around the world and fostering private sales, joined Phillips from Bonhams, where he was the head of sales for jewelry. He i...Read More

Ukrainian steel billet producer Dneprovskiy Dzerzhinsky Metallurgical Plant (DMKD) has restarted its 900,000-tonnes-per-year No12 blast furnace at its steelmaking facility in the port city of Kamianske on the Dneiper river.Trial pig iron production was started at the end of 2019 and normal operations resumed on Saturday January 4, the company said on January 10. Currently, the daily...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales at Chow Tai Fook's mainland China stores grew in the third quarter amid a significant expansion of the jeweler's network in the country. Total retail sales climbed 17% year on year in China for the three months ending December 31, while same-store sales - at locations open for more than a year - rose 2%. Chow Tai Fook added a net 279 points of sale in the country d...Read More

RAPAPORT... US diamond shipments fell in November, according to government data. Polished imports declined19% as lower volumes outweighed an increase in the average price. US Trade Data for November 2019Read More

Sentiment in the global long steel market has become more positive "especially after the announcement that a trade deal between the [United States] and China will be signed," the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said last week."[But] we have to keep in mind the possibility that any trade deal may prove to be elusive," the association added in its January 2020 Short Ra...Read More

China may continue importing steel billet after the Chinese New Year holiday (January 25-30) due to the expected pick-up in seasonal downstream demand and prices post-holiday, market sources told Fastmarkets.China was not heard to have imported any steel billet in January due to the holiday lull in the domestic markets. Quiet JanuaryCurrent billet import offers are around $450 per tonne cfr China...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has announced that for December 2019, it sold $363.8 million worth of rough and polished diamonds (+11% year-over-year). Rough diamond sales by value amounted to $352.1 million, with polished diamond sales totaling $11.6 million.The company's total rough and polished diamond sales for 2019 amounted to $3.338 billion. During the year, Alrosa's total rough diamonds s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, is holding a seminar at the upcoming Vicenzaoro trade fair that will provide practical guidance and viable solutions for SMEs operating in the international jewelry sector. The "Does Size Matter?" seminar will outline the requirements for responsible sourcing, supply chain integrity and environmental sustainability and will present the...Read More

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a 117-carat, gem-quality diamond from its Lulo alluvial mine in Angola.The stone is the miner's 14th over 100 carats from Lulo to date, and its first in that size category this year, it said Thursday. Lucapa found the stone in mining block 19, located between its high-value mining block 6 and mining block 8 portions of the deposit. That area wa...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Perth Mint has released the "Jewelled Tiger," the third release from its range of diamond-studded coins showcasing mythical and real animals from Asia. The tiger is pav?? (C) set with almost three carats of fancy vivid intense pink diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine.The coin is made from 10oz of 99.99% pure gold. The tiger, which has two vibrant green Columbian Muso Emeralds...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) has announced it will x-ray all diamond parcels at the customs area of the bourse. This move will prevent any illegal cargo being added to diamond parcels and comes in response to the discovery of an electronic item in a parcel of diamonds. In this instance, a logistics company took the from the precious cargo customs clearance centre (PCCCC) at...Read More

A number of factors came together in the second half of 2019 to create a situation of high volatility in the market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which covers almost two-thirds of global exports.On one hand, weaker prices for finished steel products and scrap put pressure on the pig iron market, while on the other hand suppliers redirected pig iron away fr...Read More