Aluminium producer Aludium has appointed Lionel Chapis as the company's new chief executive officer, effective March 1. Prior to joining Aludium, Chapis was a managing director for automotive solutions at Constellium with more than 20 years of experience in the aluminium...Read More
A weak US aluminium market kept market participants away from undertaking arbitrage activities between Southeast Asia and the United States despite plummeting freight rates. Sustained pressure on aluminium premiums in the US was one of the main factors preventing viable aluminium arbitrage opportunities between London Metal Exchange sheds in Southeast Asia to the US Midwest. Fastmarkets assessed t...Read More
The Chinese government has announced the third round of metal scrap import quotas, which importers must apply for to bring scrap material into China. The latest round granted quotas for an extra 4,620 tonnes of copper scrap, 1,440 tonnes of aluminium scrap and 2,670 tonnes of ferrous scrap, according to the release from the China Solid Waste &...Read More
The coronavirus outbreak has not yet affected buying demand in China for imported alumina, with material from Western Australia still being shipped to China and fresh deals concluded, market participants told Fastmarkets. A deal was concluded on Tuesday February 4 for 30,000 tonnes of Western Australian alumina at $299.50 per tonne on a cif China basis.The cargo is for March loading and to either...Read More
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